President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited the Children’s National Hospital on Friday ahead of the Christmas holiday, taking time to both thank the staff and visit with children too sick to leave the building. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited the Children’s National Hospital on Friday ahead of the Christmas holiday

  • The couple first met with personnel from the Emergency Department before participating in a book reading of “The Snowy Day” for hospital patients

  • Last year’s visit marked the first time that a sitting president joined the trip, though it is a longstanding tradition for first ladies to visit Children's National Hospital at Christmastime

The couple first met with personnel from the Emergency Department before participating in a book reading for hospital patients, some of whom attended from their rooms virtually. Biden and the first lady were led into a room decorated with poinsettias, presents and a giant Christmas tree by  5-year-old Miles Barnes and 10-year-old Aubrey Klinger to read the book “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats.

After the reading, President Biden offered words of comfort to parents of sick children, saying he and his wife have also spent their fair share of time at the bedside of sick family members. 

“It's going to be okay,” he said. 

It was the second annual holiday visit for the Bidens to the hospital, and Dr. Bidens third as first lady, according to the White House. Last year, the couple helped a group of children making lanterns as part of a winter craft project before the first lady read them a Christmas story.

Last year’s visit marked the first time that a sitting president joined the trip, though it is a longstanding tradition for first ladies to visit Children's National Hospital at Christmastime. 

“This is the 80th year that the first lady has visited our hospital,” Dr. Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children's National Hospital, said at the end of Friday’s event, before addressing the first couple.

“Last year you brought a surprise guest, your husband, Dr. Biden,” he noted, adding: “And at the end of that I asked President Biden to start a new tradition. And look, he did. So they're here together. So thank you, thank you for that.”

The annual tradition of a hospital visit by the first lady dates to Bess Truman, who served in the role from 1945-53. 

President Biden and the first lady capped off their visit by meeting with patients in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

The first family is expected to spend Christmas in Washington this year, and on Sunday will “call members of the military to thank them and their families for their service and sacrifice,” per the White House. 

Biden and the first lady already honored military families this holiday season, having marked the 75th anniversary of Toys for Tots at an event hosted by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in mid-December. 

The event at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in northern Virginia was part of Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative, which offers support and resources to families of military members and veterans, as well as their caregivers and survivors. Helping the first couple sort through presents were spouses of Pentagon leaders and local children of servicemembers.

“Military kids like you give our country so much,” Jill Biden said at the event, after a young child read a passage from the Dr. Seuss classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

The president on Thursday delivered a holiday address to the nation where he sought to spread a message of hope and unity, saying while Christmas itself is central to the Christian faith, the “messages of hope, love, peace and joy – they’re also universal.” 

“This Christmas, let’s spread a little kindness. This Christmas let's be that helping hand, that strong shoulder, that friendly voice when no one else seems to care for those who are struggling in trouble in need,” Biden said. “It just might be the best gift you can ever give.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.