The White House told Newsmax that it is "concerned" about the impact that Greece failing to repay the next installment in its bailout loans could have on the international and American economies.
Press secretary Josh Earnest's remarks on the ongoing economic crisis came Wednesday, two days after President Barack Obama returned to the U.S. from a summit of G-7 leaders where there was significant discussion of a possible Greek default.
On the same day Earnest spoke to us, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras were meeting to come up with some arrangement to enable Greece to make its next payment and thus remain in the euro currency.
The deadline for the next repayment installment from Greece to the International Monetary Fund, which is about $1.8 billion, is June 30.
At the regular White House briefing for reporters, Newsmax referred to IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde's comment June 4 on the possible impact of a Greek default on its loans: "We don’t believe it's a significant risk."
But in responding to a question from Katerina Sokou of the venerable Greek daily Kathimerini, Lagarde quickly added: "I phrase the assessment with a strong caveat."
Did the administration agree with Lagarde's comment, we asked.
"I didn't see Ms. Lagarde's comments," Earnest told us, but emphasized that "we are concerned about the impact that a Greek default could have on the broader international economy, and things that contribute to some volatility in the broader international economy often have an impact on the U.S. economy."
The president's top spokesman added: "That's why you see so much engagement from the Treasury Department to try to bring the Greeks and their partners together to resolve their differences in the way that will not contribute to instability in either the European economy or in the global economy."
By "their partners," Earnest meant the three institutions that have made a roughly 240 billion euro, five-year loan to Greece: the IMF, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank.
Earnest recalled how at the G-7 summit "the president had the opportunity to discuss this a little bit and he continues to be heartened by the fact that just about everybody seems to recognize that resolving the situation prior to the deadline is in the interest of all the parties that are involved in the talks. So hopefully, they’ll succeed."
As for any plans for a possible U.S. visit by Prime Minister Tsipras, Earnest told us: "I don't have any announcement."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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