The national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, tipped off US President Joe Biden about his defense secretary, Lloyd Austin’s, hospitalization, according to US media on Saturday. Biden had not been informed by the Pentagon about the hospitalization of Austin for at least three days.
Politico revealed on Saturday that, since the Secretary of State’s medical admission on January 1, President Joe Biden was unaware of Lloyd Austin’s location.
When Biden and the other senior White House aides learned of the Pentagon chief’s hospitalized health condition, they were equally taken aback.
On January 4, the Pentagon released a formal announcement regarding its commander.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Israel’s defense minister, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
On December 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin talks at a joint press conference with Israel’s Minister of Defense. — AFP
The delay was addressed on Saturday by Pentagon spokesman Patrick S. Ryder, who said, “It was an evolving situation, in which we had to consider a number of factors, including medical and personal privacy issues.”
The national security advisor was the only one to notify the 81-year-old president, since officials have ruled out Biden’s prior knowledge of the Pentagon chief’s hospitalization.
One of the officials was cited as saying, “If Jake didn’t know, there’s no way the president knew,” adding, “Who would have told him of Austin’s health if not Jake? And Jake would know if someone told the president.
