White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefed reporters on Tuesday as President Joe Biden faces a growing number of crises at home and abroad.

Domestically, in addition to dealing with the record spread of COVID-19 and a stalled legislative agenda, Biden is now facing criticism from his opponents after he cursed at a Fox News reporter during an appearance on camera on Monday.

Inflation

While attending a meeting of the White House Competition Council on Monday, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocey asked Biden if he thought the rapidly rising inflation rates were a “political liability “.

“No, that’s a big plus – no more inflation,” Biden said sarcastically. “What a stupid (expletive) son.”

Doocey later said Biden called him later Monday night to apologize for the explicit comment.

Russian-Ukrainian tensions

On Tuesday, Psaki was asked how the decision to deploy US troops could be made as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate. PSAKI said a decision would be made alongside the contribution from NATO allies, but did not give further details.

PSAKI said, “The aggressive behavior here is from the Russians,” and called the US-NATO alliance defensive.

Ukrainian leaders are seeking to reassure the nation that a feared invasion from neighboring Russia is not imminent. These comments came even as they recognized the threat was real and received a shipment of US military equipment to bolster their defenses.

Russia denied planning an assault. But, it has massed around 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks, leading the United States and its NATO allies to rush to prepare for a possible war. Several rounds of high-stakes diplomacy have yielded no breakthroughs.

NATO said it was strengthening its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region and the United States ordered 8,500 troops to stand by.

North Korea

The United States also faces a continuing threat from North Korea, which conducted missile tests again on Tuesday in the fifth launch this month.