In his first broadcast interview since leaving the White House in January, former US President Joe Biden lashed out at Donald Trump’s foreign policy work and highlighted the loud confrontation at the White House during which Trump and Vice President JD Vance belittled the Ukrainian president, on Wednesday, the 7th of April, reports Politico and the British broadcaster BBC.
“I think the way it happened was beneath America,” Biden said in an interview with the BBC. “The way we talk now about ‘this is the Gulf of America’, ‘maybe we should take back Panama’, ‘maybe we should buy Greenland’… What the hell is going on here? What President talks like that?”
“WE ARE NOT LIKE THAT,” HE SAID. “WE ARE FOR FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, OPPORTUNITY, NOT CONFISCATION.”
Trump used the Oval Office meeting in February to accuse the Ukrainian president of not being grateful enough for American support. The meeting ended without a minerals deal, although the pair later met during the funeral of Pope Francis and the two countries have now concluded one.
Biden called Trump’s approach to the war in Ukraine a “modern day appeasement”, after US officials outlined the US vision for a peace plan in Ukraine, which included giving up some territory.
He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine is part of Russia and “anyone who thinks he will stop” if any territory is ceded as part of a peace deal “is simply foolish”.
“I simply do not understand how people can think that if we allow a dictator, a bandit, to decide that he takes a certain part of the land that does not belong to him and that will satisfy him,” he said.
He also expressed concern that some NATO alliance countries bordering Russia might have to just “say we have to make accommodation” to Putin if Ukraine ends up giving up land.
With signs that the US could abandon its role as guarantor of European security, Biden said that the future of the NATO military alliance was now of “grave concern” to him and warned that “it would change the modern history of the world if that were to happen”.
Asked whether Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth were right to oppose America’s funding of European defence, Biden replied dismissively: “They have no point. When we were attacked, what happened on 9/11? They all reacted and supported us.”
“I don’t understand how they can’t understand that there is strength in alliances,” Biden said about the Trump administration in an interview. “There are benefits… It saves us money overall.”
Meanwhile, Trump says he is making necessary changes in world relations with the US by balancing trade, controlling illegal immigration and making government more efficient. Last week he gave a triumphant speech to mark his first 100 days in office.
Asked what he thought of Trump’s comeback, President Biden replied: “I’ll let history be the judge of that,” adding, “I don’t see anything that’s triumphant.”