President Biden begins his final week in office on Monday with a vigorous defense of his foreign policy, saying in an afternoon speech that America has become stronger under his leadership.
With just seven days left before he hands over the White House to President-elect Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden hopes to use his remaining time to define his historic legacy as a transformational leader who stood by states -United at home and abroad, even in just one term.
The effort begins Monday at 2 p.m. with a speech at the State Department focused on what he sees as his successes on the international stage. He plans to say he has strengthened U.S. alliances both in Europe in the face of Russian aggression and in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of China’s rise. At the same time, he plans to argue that America’s adversaries — particularly Russia, China and Iran — are all weaker than when he took office.
“It will ask the question: Is America stronger than it was four years ago? And he’s going to answer the question with a definitive yes,” said Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser. said in a preview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “Our alliances are stronger, as I said before. Our enemies and competitors are weaker. We kept the nation out of war. Every element of American power is stronger today. »
The speech will be the first this week aimed at making the best case for Mr. Biden’s presidency as it draws to a close. He will deliver a prime-time televised farewell address to the nation Wednesday evening, just as many presidents have done. He will also deliver speeches this week on his conservation record and at a farewell ceremony for the commander in chief at Joint Base Myers-Henderson Hall.
On foreign policy, Mr. Biden has presided over a tumultuous period and Mr. Trump has blamed him for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, although no U.S. troops are directly involved on the ground in either country. Some critics said Mr. Biden’s perception of a world in flames and beyond his control contributed to the erosion of his political popularity at home and, ultimately, his withdrawal from the election under pressure.
“Biden returning the presidency to his predecessor partly reflects his foreign policy shortcomings,” said Peter Rough, director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute and a former aide to President George W. Bush.
“For most of his term, Biden has been on the defensive, first in Ukraine and then in Gaza,” Rough continued. “The president’s liberal internationalism in the 1990s may have been well-intentioned, but it always struck me as out of step with the power politics of the 2020s.”
Always, a new Gallup poll released Monday showed that America’s position in Europe has improved significantly under Mr. Biden’s leadership. Of the 30 NATO allies surveyed, approval of American leadership has increased in all but four since 2020, Mr. Trump’s final year in office. Approval rates increased by double digits in 20 of 30 countries. In Germany, for example, approval of American leadership rose from just 6% under Mr. Trump to 52% under Mr. Biden.
By withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan and leading America out of the longest war in its history, Mr. Biden finally accomplished what his two predecessors wanted but failed to do. But the chaotic nature of the withdrawal has caused considerable damage to his and his country’s reputation around the world.
Mr. Biden rallied much of the world to oppose Russia’s large-scale, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and reinvigorated NATO after ties frayed under Mr. Trump, admitting even two new members, Sweden and Finland. He funneled tens of billions of dollars in U.S. weapons to Ukraine, helping thwart Moscow’s attempt to take control of the country.
But Mr. Biden has been criticized from two different directions; Some complained that he was too reluctant to provide more powerful weapons for fear of becoming a nuclear superpower, while others complained that he was investing too much of American treasure in someone’s war. ‘other. And after his initial resounding successes, Ukraine’s defense has stalled and Mr. Trump is now promising to end the war with what are expected to be concessions to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
The war in Gaza that followed Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, was the other dominant crisis of Mr. Biden’s term. He stood firmly with Israel and supplied weapons for its all-out assault on Hamas, but eventually grew frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who rebuffed American pressure to do more to reduce casualties civilians and alleviate humanitarian suffering.
Even now, in his final days, Mr. Biden is working to seal a ceasefire deal that would end the fighting and lead to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including some with American citizenship . Mr. Sullivan said on Sunday that U.S. negotiators were “very, very close” to a deal, but he was not sure it could be finalized by next Monday when Mr. Trump takes over.
As with Ukraine, Mr. Biden has been criticized on both sides. On the one hand, he has been accused of not doing more to stop the massacres of civilians and has been called “Genocide Joe” during the protests. On the other hand, he was criticized for pressuring Israel to restrain itself in the face of an existential terrorist threat.
