President Joe Biden’s Dog Major to Return to the White House

President Joe Biden‘s dog Major is preparing to return to the White House after the younger of the president’s two German Shepards had a “biting incident” with White House security. Biden explained the situation in a sit-down interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, saying that the incident was not serious and occurred after Major was spooked by some of the new faces in his home.

“Major did not bite someone and penetrate the skin,” Biden said. “What happens is … what surprised me is the White House itself, living there: Every door you turn to, there’s a guy there in a black jacket. You turn a corner and there’s two people I don’t know at all. And they move — and he moves to protect. But he’s a sweet dog.”

Biden said Major was “in the process of having a training session” with the family’s trainer in Delaware, where he went alongside big brother Champ, as the president and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden were both traveling. “I didn’t banish him to home,” the president assured Stephanopoulos.

He added that Major is a sweet dog by nature and that the incident was out of character for the pup. “Eighty-five percent of the people there love him,” he said. “He just — all he does is lick them and wag his tail. But … I realize some people, understandably, are afraid of dogs to begin with.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki commented on the incident earlier this month after CNN first published a report about the incident. Psaki did not identify the staffer who was injured, but told press members, “Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House Medical Unit with no further treatment needed.”

Major is believed to be the first rescue dog to live in the White House after being adopted by Joe and Dr. Jill Biden from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018. Major and Champ are the first pets to live in the White House in four years, as former President Donald Trump was the first president in 100 years to not bring an animal with him to the White House.