The Times of Israel has reported that First Lady Jill Biden is planning to tour the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe next week.
Someone who won't be joining the first lady is her husband, President Joe Biden. The fact that she is going alone may raise yet more questions regarding the president's stamina.
First Lady will attend royal wedding in Jordan
According to the Times, Biden will attend the wedding of Jordanian Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II to architect Rajwa Khalid Alseif.
The newspaper noted that Mr. and Mrs. Biden "have a deep and longstanding friendship with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Queen Rania."
That relationship dates back to Joe Biden's time as serving as vice president in the Obama administration and continued after he left office.
The Times explained that Jill Biden intends to focus on women and young people during stops in Egypt and Morocco while highlighting American policies aimed at uplifting them.
"The first lady believes that supporting youth across the world is critical to our common future, with education, health, and empowerment at the heart of it," spokesperson Vanessa Valdivia was quoted as telling the Times in an email.
White House source says staff have to "space out" president's appearances
"With her visit to the Middle East and North Africa, the first lady will continue to build on her work to empower young people, and reaffirm our commitment to strengthen our partnerships and advance our shared priorities in the region," Valdivia went on to add.
This is not the first time that the first lady has gone overseas without her husband, as she represented the United States at British King Charles' coronation earlier this month.
The Daily Telegraph cited an unnamed White House source as saying that the president stayed home due to fears that Biden did not have enough energy to attend the event given how he was already scheduled to visit Northern Ireland and the G7 summit in Japan.
"The guy is 80," the source remarked before explaining that White House staff "space out his big bursts of activity quite considerably."
Hillary Clinton says voters "have every right to consider" Biden's age and health
Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last weekend that voters "have every right to consider" whether Biden is too old and unwell after he was seen having difficulty navigating stairs at the G-7 conference.
"We've had presidents who had fallen before who were a lot younger, and people didn't go into heart palpitations. But his age is an issue, and people have every right to consider it," Fox News quoted her as telling Financial Times editor Edward Luce.
