President Barack Obama is once again postponing his trip to Indonesia and Australia, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced in a statement late last night.
Gibbs didn’t offer a reason for the postponement of this month’s trip. However, much of the administration’s focus in recent weeks has been on the disastrous Gulf Coast oil spill — the worst in U.S. history — and Obama will visit the Gulf today for the third time since the spill.
This isn’t the first time this year that Obama has postponed this Indonesia trip. In the spring, the trip was postponed so the president could stay in Washington while the House wrapped up its vote on health care reform.
Here’s the statement:
President Obama spoke tonight with Prime Minister Rudd of Australia, and with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia. President Obama expressed his deep regret that he has to postpone his trip to Asia that was scheduled for later this month. The President looked forward to rescheduling so that he can visit both countries soon.
President Obama underscored his commitment to our close alliance with Australia and our deepening partnership with Indonesia. He plans to hold full bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Rudd and President Yudhoyono on the margins of the G-20 meeting in Canada.
