Biden to deliver prime-time farewell to nation on Wednesday from Oval Office

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about today's jobs report, the state of the economy, and other topics, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, five days before president-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.

The president’s remarks at 8 p.m. eastern are set to be his last significant opportunity to speak to Americans and the world before he leaves office at noon Jan. 20. They will follow a speech Monday at the State Department, where he will deliver an address focused on his foreign policy legacy.

On Friday, speaking from the Roosevelt Room, Biden said he didn’t think that dropping out of the presidential race over the summer helped deliver the election to Trump. Biden stepped aside amid enormous pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate performance, and Kamala Harris ran in his place with just a few months to set up a campaign that normally is years in the making.

“I think I would have beaten Trump, and I think that Kamala could have -- would have beaten Trump,” he said. “I thought it was important to unify the party. Even though I thought I could win again, I thought it was better to unify the party.”

Biden said he didn’t want to cause a divided party to lose an election, adding: “That’s why I stepped aside. But I was confident she could win.”

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier Friday that Biden would reflect on his “50-plus years as a public official” in his speech Monday.

“He has some thoughts on the future, not just of the country, but how this country moves forward as a leader, when you think about global events, important global issues, and certainly he will lay that out,” she said.