On April 1, 2023, President Joe Biden declined to comment on the indictment of former President Donald Trump, saying "I'm not going to talk about Trump's indictment" as he departed the White House en route to Mississippi, where he toured storm damage.

He and other top administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, stuck to their playbook of staying out of active criminal matters and focusing on Biden's agenda and priorities. Jean-Pierre did stress that Biden supports peaceful protests and that the administration is always prepared for any contingencies.

Biden found out about the indictment of his predecessor through news reports on Thursday, like other Americans. The nature of the charges against Trump was unclear because the indictment remained under seal, but they stem from payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.