President Barack Obama pointed to a March tsunami, the Arab Spring and the summertime debt ceiling fight in Washington as key reasons that economic growth has slowed.

Obama answered reporters’ questions in a press conference on Thursday. Here’s some of what the president said, according to a transcript:  

“Well, first of all, with respect to the state of the economy, there is no doubt that growth has slowed.  I think people were much more optimistic at the beginning of this year.  But the combination of a Japanese tsunami, the Arab Spring, which drove up gas prices, and most prominently Europe I think has gotten businesses and consumers very nervous. 

“And we did not help here in Washington with the debt ceiling debacle that took place, a bit of game-playing that was completely unnecessary, completely unprecedented in terms of how we dealt with our responsibilities here in Washington. You combine all that – there is no doubt that the economy is weaker now than it was at the beginning of the year.”