President Joe Biden made clear he had no intention of wading into Northern Ireland’s febrile politics on Wednesday, insisting his role was to listen during his brief visit to Belfast.

His trip is meant to mark 25 years of peace in the province since the signing of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement.

But local political parties are deadlocked over returning to its powersharing government, and pro-London unionist figures are on alert for any perceived slight by Biden, who is ferociously proud of his Irish roots. 

On Wednesday, the president was asked what he planned to say to the political parties when he meets their leaders later in the day.

‘I’m going to listen,’ he said during a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

President Joe Biden met Rishi Sunak on Wednesday morning during his 17-hour Belfast visit, and made clear he was not going to wade into local political disputes

Biden was seen stepping off Air Force One onto the tarmac of RAF Aldergrove airbase in County Antrim on Tuesday

Hardline unionists had earlier warned him to stay out of Northern Ireland’s politics, saying it would be a bit like a Frenchman turning up in London and lecturing British leaders on how to run their affairs.

For all the turmoil, Biden looked relaxed during the meeting with Sunak.

‘Heck of a view out there,’ he remarked from the top floor of his downtown hotel. 

The reason for Biden’s trip is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement which ended decades of sectarian and political violence known as ‘the Troubles.’

But he arrives at an awkward time with the province’s powersharing government suspended amid political wrangling. 

Hardline unionists are boycotting the institution, which means it cannot sit. 

White House officials have been avoided any suggestion that Biden will try to pressure the holdouts. 

And unionists have been quick to accuse Biden of anti-British feeling. 

As Ian Paisley Jr., of the hardline Democratic Unionist Party, put it to TalkTV, ‘the poor fella is unfortunately quite gaffe prone,’ adding: ‘It would be like a Frenchman coming over to you and telling you what to do in England.’ 

Officials were also forced to defend President Joe Biden ‘s trip to Ireland on Wednesday, insisting it was work — not just pleasure — and fend off accusations that he is anti-British during his brief visit to Northern Ireland.

Read Related Also: Ron DeSantis heads to South Carolina as he loses more endorsements to Trump

He was due to begin his day with a meeting with British Prime Rishi Sunak, before greeting five local party leaders followed by a speech at Ulster University.

But questions about his stance on Britain and Ireland, and who is paying for his son Hunter and sister Valerie to travel with him dominated a morning briefing.

Amanda Sloat, senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, was asked whether the famously Irish-American president was anti-British, as pro-London unionist politicians have claimed. 

‘I think the track record of the president shows that he’s not anti British,’ she said.

However, Biden has a history of making anti-English jokes and has frequently described his mother’s hostility to the U.K. and its crown.

Sloat reeled off examples of cooperation between the Biden administration and London. 

‘The UK remains one of our strongest and closest allies,’ she said.

‘And it’s difficult, frankly, to think of an issue in the world that we are not closely cooperating with the British on and it’s why the president wanted to have the opportunity to engage with Prime Minister Sunak this morning to start his his day here in Belfast.’

Crowds gathered outside the Belfast city center hotel where Biden was staying on Wednesday

Police put up a ring of steel around the city center hotel where Biden stayed on Tuesday night

Biden is spotted in the Beast, his armored car, as he arrived in Belfast on Tuesday night

And with just 17 hours in Belfast before heading off on a genealogical tour of Ireland, Sloat was asked whether the visit was really a taxpayer-funded family reunion.

‘I would, not surprisingly, dispute that characterization,’ she said frostily, before listing engagements with the British prime minister and official events to mark the Good Friday Belfast agreement.

In his speech at Ulster University, Biden will congratulate the province and its leaders on 25 years of peace with a speech at Ulster University. 

Sloat said she would not discuss what would come up in the meetings.

‘I think as a broad matter and as I indicated, the president obviously is supportive of the institutions,’ she told journalists in a morning briefing. 

‘The president like everybody in Northern Ireland and the leader of the UK would like to see the institutions up and running.’

Biden arrived in Belfast amid a major policing operation, the biggest in the past 10 years in the province. 

Some 300 officers have been drafted in from elsewhere in the U.K. to bolster numbers, with the whole cost coming to £7 million (about $8.7 million). 

His main official engagement on Wednesday is a speech at Ulster University. 

Biden’s maternal line emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine. The Blewitts left Co. Mayo and settled in Scranton, PA, while the Finnegans left Co. Louth and came to New York

The president will deliver at least two messages, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

‘Congratulations on 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, which has brought unprecedented peace and prosperity,” Kirby said. “And that kind of goes to the second goal, which is to talk about the importance of trying to work on trade and economic policies that benefit all communities, as well as the United States.’

Writing on Twitter earlier, Biden said: ’25 years ago, Northern Ireland’s leaders chose peace. 

‘The Belfast/Good Friday agreement ended decades of violence and brought stability. I look forward to marking the anniversary in Belfast, underscoring the US commitment to preserving peace and encouraging prosperity.’