Behind the smiles, Joe Biden will have one purpose in mind as he bids farewell to world leaders at the UN General Assembly this week: to secure his legacy in the face of Donald Trump’s potential White House comeback.
Countries throughout the world are keeping a close eye on November’s US presidential election, fearing that a Trump victory against Kamala Harris may result in the return of his tough, isolationist foreign policy.
And as Biden makes his final appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, having dropped out of the race in July and backing his vice president as the Democratic contender, the 81-year-old is not taking any chances.
Viewing his presidency as a comeback from the brink following Republican Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, Biden will strive to ensure that his accomplishments are, in the words of one aide, “irreversible.”
From his keynote address to the United Nations and a major climate speech on Tuesday to discussions about the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, Biden will be attempting to establish the groundwork for US alliances and leadership that can survive Trump.
“When President Biden came to office nearly four years ago he pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with him to New York.
Biden would now use his UN address to outline his “vision” for how that should continue — and to “reaffirm how this approach has produced results for the American people and the world,” she added.
His UN swan song is part of a larger effort to burnish his legacy at home and abroad following a one-term president cut short by a catastrophic debate against Trump, which raised issues about his age.
In an emotional moment. Former President Bill Clinton presented Biden with the “Clinton Global Citizen Award” at a surprise ceremony in New York on Sunday, the day before the assembly.
Biden convened a cabinet meeting last week to advocate a “sprint to the finish” to promote his programs — and to offer Harris any reflected glory in an agonizingly close race.
His director of communications, Ben LaBolt, wrote in a statement to White House staff that the government should “put a stake in the ground for the future” — and, in an obvious shot at Trump, mentioned how Biden had returned “decency and dignity to the White House.”
With an eye on history, Biden is attempting to imprint his mark on all aspects of policy.
On international alliances, Biden hosted the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia for a farewell summit in his hometown on Saturday, after Trump threatened to drop Western allies if they did not spend more money on defense and held summits with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
On climate — where Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris accords — Biden wanted to build an “irreversible momentum behind climate action,” his National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said Monday.
And on Ukraine, where Trump complimented Putin but has been hesitant to help Kyiv, Biden will hold a farewell meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Thursday to propose additional US support.
“The fact that we have Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan issues in our world just highlights the need for that kind of cooperation,” a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
However, the most important prize of all—the Gaza peace that Biden has set his sights on before leaving office in January 2025—seems further away than ever.
Instead, the situation in the Middle East is deteriorating, with the UN General Assembly likely to be dominated by recent Israeli attacks on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, which killed at least 500 people.
Biden “will address the Middle East, especially this very difficult year that we have all gone through” in his speech, according to a senior US official.
