President Barack Obama said Thursday that he was not "ready to concede" that he can't close the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison before leaving office.
Closing Gitmo has been a stated goal of Obama's since taking office in 2009. The administration transferred 15 inmates last month to foreign countries, and 55 have been transferred over the past year.
"I am not ready to concede that it may still remain open because we're still working diligently to continue to shrink the population," Obama said at a press conference in Laos.
Obama said that he still believes that Gitmo is a recruitment tool for terrorism and remains a large tax burden on the American people. He blamed the pushback from Congress on why the closing of the prison has not been achieved.
"The American people should be asking the question, why are we spending this kind of money when it could be spent on other things when it's not necessary for our safety and security. There is no doubt because of the politics in Congress right now, it is a tough road to hoe," Obama said. "But I expect to work really hard over the next four months, five months, four and-a-half-months."