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President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States will be “ready to lead” on the world stage again, turning the page on Republican President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies when he promised to work alongside the nation’s allies.
Introducing his foreign policy and national security team, the former Democratic vice president noted that, after taking office on January 20, he intended to turn the United States away from the unilateralist nationalism pursued by Trump.
Biden also noted that two former, more liberal rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, were not being considered for cabinet appointments, saying he needed their votes in the narrowly divided Senate.
Trump for four years troubled many US allies, in Europe and elsewhere, with an antagonistic approach to the NATO alliance and trade relations, abandonment of international agreements and warm relations with authoritarian leaders.
Biden said his team, which includes trusted aide Antony Blinken as its nominee for US secretary of state, would shed what the president-elect described as “old ideas and unaltered habits” in its approach to foreign relations.
“It is a team that reflects the fact that the United States is back, ready to lead the world, not withdraw from it, sit once more at the head of the table, ready to face our adversaries and not reject our allies. , ready to stand up for our values, “Biden said at the event in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
The world has changed a lot since the last time Democrats were in the White House four years ago. China is on the rise and emboldened, Russia has tried to further assert its influence, the influence of the United States has waned as it has withdrawn from various agreements, and the American moral authority has been affected by internal turmoil.
US foreign policy under the Biden administration is likely to take a more multilateral and diplomatic approach aimed at repairing Washington’s relations with key allies and seeking new paths on issues like climate change.
His promise to embrace alliances, including in the Asia-Pacific region, follows a deterioration in bilateral ties between the United States and China, the world’s two major economies, which has sparked comparisons to the Cold War.
This final year of the Trump administration was marked by frequent attacks on China as the two powers argued over China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong and territorial problems in the South China Sea.
Trump has told his allies that he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, a source familiar with the situation said Tuesday.
The source said Trump could still change his mind on the planned clemency, which was first reported by Axios.
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