President Joe Biden told Al Roker on TODAY during a quick chat at the annual White House Easter egg roll that he plans on running for reelection in 2024.
"I plan on running Al, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet," Biden said alongside first lady Jill Biden.
Biden, 80, let the news slip early Monday after Al asked how many more White House Easter egg events he planned on participating in, nudging the president to say whether he had eyes on a second term.
"I plan on at least three or four more Easter egg rolls," Biden said as the two chatted on the Truman Balcony. "Maybe five. Maybe six, what the hell."
Until Monday, Biden, who at 78 became the oldest person to win the presidency in 2020, had not made any of his plans for a reelection campaign known. His office has not made an official announcement.
The field for the Democratic nomination has remained mostly empty as potential challengers appeared to wait and see whether Biden would officially run in 2024.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, anti-vaccine activist and son of former U.S. attorney general and 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission last week to run for president as a Democrat.
On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump announced in November 2022 that he is running again in 2024 after losing to Biden in the 2020 election.
Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, announced in February that she is also seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
Al's interview with Biden on Monday is the latest in a friendship that goes back to Biden's time as vice president under President Barack Obama.
The two have shared a fist bump during Biden's inauguration parade, chatted on the phone during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and posed for a photo together at a White House state dinner in 2016.
Biden also sent the TODAY weatherman a letter last year after Al was named an emissary for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.