Biden will not shake hands on Middle East trip; WH cites COVID

The White House said that President Biden would not be shaking hands during his overseas trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, citing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think just the simplest way for me to put it is that we're in a phase of the pandemic right now where we're looking to increase masking, reduce contact, to minimize spread," Sullivan said.

While Sullivan acknowledged that "how exactly that plays out in any given interaction is something that we will see," the general no-contact policy is a shift in protocol given that the president had participated in hand-shaking sessions with people at the White House during the past two days.