Biden to celebrate New Year’s in St. Croix

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will leave Tuesday for St. Croix to ring in 2023 in the United States Virgin Islands.

The first couple will celebrate the New Year’s holiday with their family on the island after celebrating Christmas at the White House. They are set to return to the White House from St. Croix on Monday.

The president has a family tradition dating back to 2008 of spending the New Year’s holiday in the U.S. Virgin Islands. His younger brother, James Biden, owns property on Water Island. But last year, for his first New Year’s holiday as president, Biden rang in 2022 in Wilmington, Del. 

This trip marks the first time a sitting president has visited the U.S. Virgin Islands since former President Truman in 1948, according to The Virgin Islands Consortium.

Truman traveled to St. Croix to deliver a speech in the town of Christiansted. The first sitting president to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands was former President Hoover, who took a trip to St. Thomas in 1931. 

The Virgin Islands Consortium also reported that the Biden family trip to St. Croix is expected to strain the St. Croix hospitality industry, including hotel rooms and car rentals.