The president has been out of the public eye for weeks since he dropped out of the race and tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him, and his Thursday surprise appearance marked the first time he has fielded questions from reporters in the briefing room since entering office in 2021.

“I was determined to avert a crisis at this moment because it’s a critical moment,” the president said, thanking his staff, carrier companies, and labor for quickly working to end the strike before moving on to the latest jobs report.

“We were told time and again that policies we were pursuing, we put forward, would make things worse,” he continued. “We proved them wrong.”

Biden touted Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report that found the economy added 254,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.

“The simple fact is, we’ve gone from an economy of crisis to literally having the strongest economy in the world, but we got more work to do,” the president declared. “I’m going to probably have to ask the Congress before we leave, for more money to deal with some of those problems.”

While Biden’s opening remarks focused solely on the economy, the bulk of questions he took from reporters involved the tension in the Middle East.

The president specifically said that he was counseling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to think “about other alternatives” than launching direct strikes against Iran and that top U.S. officials were in daily contact with their Israeli counterparts.

Biden also briefly addressed the coming election, telling reporters that he was confident the election would be “free and fair” but couldn’t guarantee it would be “peaceful.”

“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time when he didn’t like the outcome were very dangerous,” he stated.

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Reporters, who audibly gasped when he entered the briefing room, peppered Biden with a barrage of questions, including whether he regrets dropping out of the 2024 race.

“I’m back in!” Biden quipped as he left the briefing room.

You can watch Biden’s remarks in full below.