President Biden was unsure if he signed a critical executive order during a conversation with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson last year, according to a revelation by Johnson, who said he left the meeting concerned about the nation’s leadership.
In an interview with Free Press, Johnson claimed that Biden insisted to Johnson that he never issued an order to freeze new liquid natural gas export permits, despite signing it less than a month earlier. The House speaker told the podcast host Bari Weiss that he believed Biden “genuinely didn’t know what he had signed.”
The meeting reportedly took place in the Oval Office in early 2024, where they discussed the latest aid package for Ukraine. Johnson questioned Biden over an executive order pausing new permits for American liquid natural gas exports to European allies, a crucial issue for his constituents in Louisiana.
“Why would you do that? Cause you understand we just talked about Ukraine, you understand you are fueling Vladimir Putin‘s war machine, because they gotta get their gas from him,” Johnson said he told Biden.
Biden appeared bewildered, Johnson noted. “I didn’t do that,” the president responded, according to Johnson.
“Sir, you paused it, I know. I have the export terminals in my state. I talked to those people in my state, I’ve talked to those people this morning, this is doing massive damage to our economy, national security,” Johnson recalled telling the president.
After initially denying the export freeze, Biden eventually remembered signing the order, explaining it was meant to study the fuel’s effects.
“I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, ‘We are in serious trouble—who is running the country?'” Johnson said.
The interview also got a reaction from Tesla and X owner Elon Musk. “As I said a few years ago, Biden was not in charge. Whoever controlled his teleprompter was,” he said.
A December report revealed that White House aides had been covering up Biden’s mental decline since the beginning of his term, rearranging his schedules and limiting in-person interactions, according to the New York Post.
Meanwhile, Biden admitted in a USA Today interview that he wasn’t sure if he would have had the “vigor” for another term had he won re-election. He dropped out of the 2024 race following a debate performance against now-President-elect Donald Trump, where he gave garbled answers and lost his train of thought. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who was defeated by Trump in November’s presidential race.