Biden celebrates birth of great-grandchild after briefing on LA wildfires

Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times on Jan 8, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — President Joe Biden announced that he became a great-grandfather Wednesday following a briefing on the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

"The good news is, I'm a great-grandfather as of today," Biden said at a Santa Monica firehouse.

The president and first lady Jill Biden already had a trip scheduled to Los Angeles to announce the dedication of two national monuments in California and in expectation of the baby's birth. The Bidens' granddaughter Naomi had a cesarean section planned for Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Biden told the audience at the fire station that he had been at the hospital earlier in the morning and that Naomi had given birth to a 10-pound, 4-ounce "baby girl" before correcting himself and saying "baby boy." Later Wednesday, Jill Biden posted a photo on Instagram of herself and the president with their great-grandson, William Brannon Neal IV.

Naomi Biden, the daughter of Biden's son Hunter, married Peter Neal at a White House ceremony in November 2022.

The president's announcement appeared to land awkwardly in the room. Biden had just received status updates from the region's top public safety officials on the fires, which continue to rage as some of L.A.'s most destructive blazes in recent memory. Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and a half-dozen other state and local elected officials were on hand for the briefing as well.

Biden had just described how Hunter and his wife received notification on Tuesday that their Malibu home had likely burned to the ground, but that it was still unclear whether that was the case. He then transitioned to the birth announcement. Biden received polite applause from the crowd.

"I'll remember this day for a lot of reasons," Biden said.

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(Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.)

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