President-elect Joe Biden introduced his foreign policy team to the nation Tuesday, saying numerous world leaders have called to tell him they are looking forward to the U.S. returning to “lead the world” after President Donald Trump’s administration.
Biden’s foreign policy strategy intends to stray away from Trump’s more contentious relationships with certain world leaders, which Biden’s imminent administration views as unproductive. Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Tony Blinken, argued America “can’t solve the world’s problems alone.” Biden’s team is notably much more friendly toward China than the current administration, with the incoming president describing the communist regime as a “competitor” rather than an adversary.
President-elect Joe Biden: “In calls from world leaders…I’ve been struck by how much they’re looking forward to the United States reasserting its historic role as a global leader.” https://t.co/RtneOGqkOG pic.twitter.com/KSGn8K9RBK
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 24, 2020
Biden spoke while flanked by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Blinken and his other nominees for foreign policy positions — Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the United Nations, and Alejandro Mayorkas as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. Biden has also selected former Sen. and Secretary of State John Kerry to lead his administration’s international efforts on climate change. (RELATED: GOP Reportedly Plans To Block Certain Biden Cabinet Picks, Dems May Offer ‘Sacrificial Lamb’)
To end the #climatechange crisis, “the whole world must come to together,” says @JohnKerry. “Failure is not an option.” pic.twitter.com/C8z7R2QZVj
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) November 24, 2020
Biden’s team each spoke in turn and emphasized that they viewed their replacement of Trump as a return to how U.S. foreign policy has been conducted traditionally.
“America is back. Multilateralism is back. Diplomacy is back,” says @LindaT_G, nominee to be US ambassador to #UN. pic.twitter.com/jcss4QSwRR
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) November 24, 2020
The Trump administration found progress in the Middle East in the final months before Election Day, helping to broker peace agreements between Israel and several Arab Islamic countries in the region. Biden has not commented on what his administration plans to do in this regard.