President Joe Biden postponed his trip to Colorado on Monday amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
The White House said the visit, during which Biden planned to tout his administration’s climate policies, would be rescheduled. More details weren’t released.
“The president will remain at the White House to participate in national security meetings,” the White House said in a brief written statement Monday.
The president was scheduled to tour Pueblo’s CS Wind factory, the largest wind turbine tower manufacturing plant in the world, as part of his “Investing in America” tour.
Biden’s visit would have been his second to Colorado this year. In June, Biden traveled to Colorado Springs to give the commencement address U.S. Air Force Academy graduates.
The White House announced Biden’s visit on Wednesday, a few days after the conflict in the Middle East began.
The president’s decision to postpone his trip also comes after a train hauling coal derailed Sunday in southern Colorado as it crossed a bridge over Interstate 25, indefinitely closing the busy route between Pueblo and Colorado Springs.
It’s rare for presidential travel, which is meticulously planned for security and logistical purposes, to be called off at the last minute. Biden’s decision reflects the competing pressure that he faces as he tries to manage bloody conflicts in Ukraine, where the Russian invasion is in its second year, and now the Middle East, always one of the world’s most combustible regions.
There are concerns that a second front could open in Israel’s north, which neighbors the Hezbollah-controlled territory in Lebanon’s south. There have already been reports of sporadic fighting along the border.
Iran backs both Hamas and Hezbollah. Two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups have been dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean in an effort to deter a widening war.
Domestic and foreign policy priorities have collided for Biden before.
He was scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia after attending the Group of Seven meeting in Japan earlier this year, but the two stops were scrubbed because of the standoff over the debt ceiling back in Washington. Rather than deepening ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, Biden jetted home to hash out a deal with Republicans to prevent a first-ever default.
The president and other top administration officials have been traveling the country to promote their Investing in America agenda. Last week, the president visited a marine terminal in Philadelphia, where he announced that the area would become one of seven regional hubs for producing and delivering hydrogen fuel.
“I truly believe this country is about to take off,” Biden said. “For the first time in a long time we’re actually investing in America.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.