Jacqui Heinrich Joins the Guy Benson Show to Discuss Ukraine, NATO, Russia, and the Cocaine Culprit

Jacqui Heinrich , Fox News White House Correspondent joined the Guy Benson Show from Lithuania in order to discuss the current discussions and negotiations between NATO, Sweden, and Ukraine. Guy and Jacqui also discussed Biden’s gaffs in the UK and the White House cocaine culprit.

Listen to the full interview:

Full transcript below:

Guy Benson: Joining us now is Jacqui Heinrich, FOX News White House correspondent. She is in Vilnius, Lithuania, traveling with the president. Jacqui, great to talk to you.

Jacqui Heinrich: Thanks for having me, Guy. Great to be with you.

Guy Benson: So a couple very busy days for the President on the schedule. Walk us through some of the newsworthy highlights thus far on this overseas jaunt.

Jacqui Heinrich: So there have been two main highlights of the trip. The first one is President Zelensky really wanted to have at least an invitation to join the NATO alliance coming out of this summit. He did not get one that NATO’s allies have agreed that the timing is just not right. When you have Ukraine in the middle of a war that could potentially draw every NATO member country into direct conflict with Russia. They’ve also pointed out that there are a number of thresholds that Ukraine still has to meet. I just spoke with Biden’s undersecretary of defense and he said military interoperability is one of them making sure that our militaries can work together. The door remains open, but until then, they did not find it to be the appropriate time to extend even an invitation. And President Zelensky was not shy about expressing his frustration with that. He tweeted about it. He called it unprecedented. He expressed concern that that would put Ukraine in a position where Russia uses their future membership, NATO, as a bargaining chip in negotiations to end the war. The second headline was Turkey dropping its opposition to Sweden, joining the alliance. That is probably the bigger headline in terms of certainly the news that we’ve been working on that the administration has been working on for the last several months. There’s been a lot of effort and diplomacy to try to get Turkey to drop its block. And there was hope going into this summit that that announcement would happen either in Vilnius or shortly thereafter. The president of Turkey, Erdogan, announced that he would allow Sweden in. Of course, no one is admitting that that is tied to the F-16s that Turkey wants from the U.S. The administration has made it very clear that they want that to go through, but Congress has to approve it and they’ve blocked it so far. So we’ll see how long it takes for Sweden to get it in fully.

Guy Benson: So it seems like that’s likely to happen. NATO is expanding. To your point up in Scandinavia, but not down in Ukraine. What’s the reaction from the Biden team to the public expressions of frustration from Zelensky? Because, look, I understand he’s a wartime leader. His country is at war. He’s going to advocate as strongly as he possibly can for Ukraine. At the same time, the international community, Western Europe, NATO countries, and very much the United States, we’ve been very generous in helping his country. Is there a fine line to walk in, really going to bat for what he hopes will happen without seeming ungrateful to the people who have done so much internationally for Ukraine’s war effort?

Jacqui Heinrich: Well, if anyone is miffed about how President Zelensky is expressing his frustration, no one in the Biden administration is indicating that at all. They’re saying that the door to NATO remains open and certainly to the question of how Russia is going to use this window as a negotiation period to end the war and what that would mean for Ukraine’s future membership. They say that you know nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine and their negotiation on their terms to end the war is their own and that the U.S. is going to continue to support them in their efforts to take back their territory. They’ve pointed to the new security assistance package that’s coming out of this summit and underscoring, you know, all of the expressions from every NATO member country that Ukraine is the focus here. And it has drawn everyone closer together in really highlighting the importance of bolstering your defense and keeping democratic norms. You know, above water, this war since the invasion happened a year and a half ago, I think has really highlighted sort of the cracks that existed before with some NATO’s member countries not making their 2% GDP spending on defense. So that’s sort of put a spotlight on that. And anyway, to wrap up your point there, not if they’re frustrated. Zelensky They’re not saying so, and they’re just continuing to point to what we’re doing that that will continue and that the door to NATO’s remains open. When the timing is right, it’ll happen, they say.

Guy Benson: Jacqui, what’s left on the President’s agenda? I think there’s a speech coming up tomorrow. What does he still have to do before he comes home?

Jacqui Heinrich: The speech tomorrow, we think, is going to focus on the wins. It’s probably not going to focus on any of this frustration from Zelensky. As we said before, there was a lot of diplomatic maneuvering to get Turkey to drop its bid and block, rather. And since that happened, you can expect the president to take credit for that. He’s taking credit for that a bit. So far, the administration has been lauding its own efforts and also Turkey’s efforts to have continued conversations with the Swedes about what it would need to see happen in order for this to go through. But I think the future question mark that we’re going to walk away from this with is how long is the track for Sweden to be fully in to Naito because Turkey wants these F-16s. They wanted them a year ago when the president said that he thought that Turkey’s issues could be resolved and it didn’t happen yet. Congress has not approved that sale. Bob Menendez in the Senate, who has been blocking that sale, indicated that he’s in talks with administration to try to figure out a way to get that through. But if that does not happen, do we see a time where Sweden is hanging out in the wind and Turkey is has not had their vote yet? How long is that window or do we see a quick push for Congress to approve of this transfer and then Turkey take the vote? It’s going to be it. We’re going to watch how it plays out and everyone’s going to have some thoughts about, you know, what led to what, because no one is admitting that the F-16s are tied to this. But just in the conversations that we’re hearing, Erdogan meeting with the president, said made an allusion to this is the beginning of a new partnership, Mr. President. And, you know, all of our talks leading up to now was just a warm up. So that’s a not so subtle reference to the deal he wants to still see completed.

Guy Benson: Jacqui Heinrich, of course, the thrust of your reporting this week is from the NATO’s summit in Lithuania with the president. I do have to ask you. Last week, all the buzz in D.C. was about a certain cocaine culprit at the White House. That story changed a couple of times. A lot of Americans are on vacation. Like, what is this? They found coke at the White House. And where was it? I know that there was some sort of indignant responses from the White House podium yesterday or a few days ago now that it’s inappropriate, irresponsible to even ask about it. Some people are saying we might never know who that baggie of illicit drugs belonged to. There was a fascination, I know, among the press corps there for a while. Do you think it’s strange that the White House is trying to say it’s out of bounds to really ask any more questions about it? Do you think we’ll ever get to the bottom of what actually happened there?

Jacqui Heinrich: Well, whether we get to the bottom of it is really up to Secret Service. They have, you know, tested this baggie every which way with DNA and fingerprinting. And I think they’re not leaving any sort of investigative route unexplored because if they were to do that, they’d face a lot of blowback. Maybe they should have used a so to speak, back. But yeah, so to speak. But I don’t know that the way that it’s being digested is really what they meant. So when the administration said it was irresponsible to be asking about it, the question was about potential links to Hunter. And they had said repeatedly that, you know, the president and his family were at Camp David. They left on Friday, didn’t get back until Tuesday, and the cocaine was found on, what, Sunday night? And so that was what the irresponsible comment was about, was about any sort of attempt to link this finding to the president or his son. You saw even former President Trump say on truth social that does anyone really think that it was anyone other than Joe Biden and Hunter Biden who were using that cocaine? So that’s, I think, what they were referring to. Now, the other intrigue was about the location, and that’s sort of the shift in, you know, information that you’re referencing. It actually was not really a shift. What happened was not FOX, but other media outlets had reporting from sources saying that it was found in a lobby off the West Wing. And then when all we had reported was it was an area that visitors frequented, which was the statement we got from Secret Service when Karine Jean-Pierre came up to the podium and emphasized this is an area where visitors go, where visitors go. All that those other media outlets, we’re talking about public tours, because their sources had suggested that perhaps a person from the public left it there. When we found out later the exact location where it was found. Yes, it is at a place that is heavily trafficked and a place where visitors go. They were not wrong in saying that, but certainly not public visitors. More so visitors from been invited by the administration that might be working for other agencies. So I think it was sort of the furious reporting from other outlets that added to some of that confusion. But the mystery remains, and Secret Service was expected, I think, to have their investigation wrapped up sometime early this week, whether that turns up any suspects. We’ll find out.

Guy Benson: Yeah, I mean, it seems to me like it was at least maybe a bit of misdirection from the White House setting out stories to some of their friends in the press giving one impression. And then it turns out it wasn’t quite that same thing. So it looked like the story had changed. Oh, no, it’s it’s definitely something of a. Talking point, a water cooler conversation starter, if you will, in DC and elsewhere. It’s it’s not every day that you see something like this happen, which is why I think people are curious and some of the theories aren’t totally out of left field about who the drugs might belong to. But theories don’t matter, the facts matter, and hopefully we will get more of those in the days to come, as you referenced, as Secret Service is. If that’s so, I guess we’ll keep an eye on that. Jacqui Heinrich, FOX News White House correspondent, is in Lithuania with the president of the United States at the NATO’s summit. Jacqui, stay safe over there. We’ll see you back home soon.

Jacqui Heinrich: Thanks so much, Guy. Talk to you later.