President Joe Biden closed out the year with a trip to church on Saturday in a rare public appearance during his free Caribbean vacation, where he’s staying at a beachfront villa owned by a billionaire Democratic donor.
Biden waved as he left the Holy Cross Catholic Church in downtown Christiansted, the largest town on St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. A devout Catholic, he rarely misses weekend mass.
He’s on the island with his wife Jill Biden and granddaughter Natalie, neither of whom accompanied him to church. It was the president’s first public appearance since he arrived on Wednesday.
The Biden trio are staying on St. Croix through New Year’s Eve with no word yet on how they plan to celebrate the turn to 2024. The president has a busy year ahead of him as he seeks a second term in the White House, works with Congress to pass a federal budget and deals with wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East.
President Joe Biden waves as he leaves Holy Cross Catholic Church in Christiansted
The Biden family are staying rent-free at a beachfront villa owned by friends Bill and Connie Neville, who made their fortune in the tech industry and attended the White House state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The property is in an area where homes can sell for up to $3million and has three bedrooms, a pool and access to a private beach.
The Bidens also spent last year at the Neville home and rang in 2023 on its private beach. St. Croix is the eastern most point of the United States and thus gets the first sunrise of the new year for the United States.
In the past, the Bidens joined locals in greeting the first sunrise of the new year at Point Udall, the eastern-most point under the American flag. But, as president, he requires more security, thus the private early morning tradition.
Biden arrived on the island on Wednesday after spending Christmas at Camp David.
Until Saturday, he has stayed behind the closed-gates of his villa.
On Friday, he pushed Congress to ‘step up’ and send more aid to Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a massive aerial strike against the embattled nation.
But he made his appeal in a lengthy statement that was issued by the White House. In it, he blasted the attacks and used the ocassion to re-up his appeal to Congress to pass his $61 billion aid package.
‘Strikes reportedly hit a maternity hospital, a shopping mall, and residential areas—killing innocent people and injuring dozens more. It is a stark reminder to the world that, after nearly two years of this devastating war, Putin’s objective remains unchanged. He seeks to obliterate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped,’ Biden said.
‘Unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people. Congress must step up and act without any further delay,’ the president added.
Biden has asked Congress for $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, but Republicans are refusing to approve the assistance without an agreement with Democrats to tighten security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
With US aid in doubt, Russia tried to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences on Friday with attacks across most major cities. The Ukrainian air force intercepted 87 of the missiles and 27 of the Shahed-type drones overnight, Ukraine’s military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said.
President Biden made his first public appearance since arriving in St. Croix
Biden attended mass at the Holy Cross Catholic Church in downtown Christiansted
The villa sits on Solitude Bay, which has access to a private beach and is owned by Democratic donors Bill and Connie Neville
The villa the Bidens are staying in has a tiled infinity pool
Biden is being briefed regularly by aides while he’s on vacation.
Presidents can work anywhere and a secure work station is set up where ever they are staying.
While Biden has been enjoying sunny skies and 80-degree weather, awaiting him back on the mainland will be a series of political storms, including the upcoming battle to fund the government, with the deadline looming on January 19.
And the 2024 election will kick into high gear next month as Republicans begin the primary process to pick their presidential nominee.
There will also be more immediate, pressing political issues, including rising tensions in the Middle East and the surge in migrant crossings at the southern border.
Immigration has entrenched itself into Biden’s foreign policy – his push for more funds for the Ukraine and Israel was stymied by Republicans desire for more border funding.
And it’s a political hot potato for the president as he seeks a second term in office. Republicans – and even some Democrats – have criticized him for not doing enough to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Meanwhile, fears are growing of a widening Middle East war that could draw in American troops. U.S. troops in Syrian and Iraq have already faced attacks by Iranian proxy groups.
But the president still has a few days in paradise.
The Bidens have a long family tradition of spending time on St. Croix, visiting there nearly every year since 2008.
Both the president and first lady are known to enjoy beach time. The Bidens own a beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware.
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and their granddaughter Natalie arrived in St. Croix on Wednesday for a vacation
The home the Bidens are staying in features colorful decor and has a private beach
Biden’s brother James owns property on Water Island and, in the past, the Bidens would often spend a week there in January, when the cold weather settles in on the East Coast.
During his time as vice president, Biden vacationed on St Croix in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Last year he was the first president to visit the island since former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Barack Obama visited it in 2007 when he was a presidential candidate.
Before Biden, the last sitting president to visit St Croix was Harry Truman in February 1948.