WASHINGTON (AP) — NATO leaders Rallies in Washington starting Tuesday The plan is to bolster transatlantic support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. But for host President Joe Biden, the summit Show that he is competent The goal is to meet the rigorous demands of being president for another four years.
European and North American leaders The Return of NATO Skeptic Donald Trump Biden is trying to salvage his reelection campaign, which is in freefall following his stumble in the June 27 debate with Trump.
The president said his work at the summit marking NATO’s 75th anniversary would be a good way to continue to gauge his ability to do his job, and noted his work coordinating a strong NATO response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine was a prime example of his stable leadership and one of the reasons he deserves another four years in the White House.
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“Our allies are looking to the United States for leadership,” Biden said in an MSNBC interview on Monday. “Who else do you think can step in and do this? I’ve expanded NATO, I’ve made NATO stronger. I’ve made sure that we’re in a position where we have a coalition of countries around the world to deal with China, Russia, all the issues that are going on in the world. We’re really making progress.”
Biden is due to speak later Tuesday to mark NATO’s landmark anniversary. is nervous To convince voters and donors that he is still the man for the job. Election Campaignin A rebellious letter To the Democrats, and Friendly media interviews In the past few days, he has still faced skepticism from some of his longtime allies.
Six Democratic members of the House of Representatives have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the campaign, others have urged him to step aside in private conversations, and several prominent donors have expressed concern about whether Biden could win a race against Trump.
Associated Press reporter Donna Warder reports that NATO leaders will gather in Washington starting today in what is sure to be a test for President Biden.
Over what is expected to be a busy few days of formal summit meetings, post-meeting chats with the leaders, marathon diplomatic dinners and receptions and a end-of-summit news conference, the White House is hoping to show a shaken Democrats that Biden still has what it takes.
Senior administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, said the president has a good understanding of broad issues such as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the threat from China, but when it comes to specific, incremental actions that countries or groups might take regarding those conflicts, Biden, at his worst, has sometimes seemed confused or without a firm grasp on how to handle them.
But officials say there is no crisis of confidence about Biden’s overall mental health, at least for now.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters on Tuesday before departing for Berlin for the summit that he had no concerns about Biden’s health. “After many conversations with the US president, I can see that he has prepared this summit together with us very well and very thoroughly,” Scholz said.
Schönefeld, Brandenburg, 9 July 2024: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) makes a statement at BER airport before leaving for the NATO summit in Washington. Photo: Britta Pedersen/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
For Biden, this summit is Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir StarmerBiden called Starmer last week to congratulate him on his victory and the two are due to meet at the White House on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the prime minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private call, said the Labour leader had no concerns about Biden’s mental state during the call.
Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister and leader of Italy’s anti-immigration League party, said Biden’s “health doesn’t look very good to me.” “Good health for the head of the United States is very important to me,” added Salvini, a junior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.
The meeting, which brings together leaders of NATO’s 32 member nations, as well as Pacific nations Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Ukraine, is expected to be Biden’s last international forum before Election Day. Republican National Convention next week In Milwaukee.
Biden has sought to underscore his commitment to the alliance while telling voters that Trump would turn his back on NATO if returned to the White House.
President Joe Biden meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office at the White House, June 17, 2024. (Associated Press/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO allies for failing to meet an agreed-upon goal of spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense, and his warning to NATO allies in a campaign speech in February that he would “encourage” Russia to “spend more on defense” fueled unease in Europe. They can do whatever they want.” If President Trump returns to the White House, he will offer support to countries that fail to meet their defense spending targets.
Trump said Biden ‘Endless flow of American treasure’ to UkraineRepublicans have recently Lend money Rather, he said, Ukrainian independence is important to the United States.
Biden aides have pushed back, pointing out that NATO announced last month that 23 of its 32 member nations had met their defense spending targets this year. Nine member nations had met their targets when Biden took office in 2021.
Biden also takes credit for expanding NATO, which both Finland and Sweden joined following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“This is no accident,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. “This is a result of leadership. This is a result of consistent stewardship of our allies and other partnerships around the world. The president’s track record speaks for itself.”
NATO is expected to announce details of Ukraine’s membership path during the summit, but NATO has maintained that Ukraine cannot join until its conflict with Russia is over, because of a fundamental agreement that considers an attack on one member state an attack on all.
Kirby said the leaders would also discuss efforts to set up a coordination centre in Germany to help train, equip and logistically coordinate Ukraine’s military in preparation for it joining NATO.
A White House official said the United States and allies plan to announce measures during the summit to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses and military capabilities to deter Russian aggression.
“It would be easy to look around Washington this week and see NATO’s unity, resolve and capability today and say that’s just the way it was,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. “But it’s not the way it was. It took effort. It took a strategy.”
Regarding Biden’s health, Ian Brzezinski, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, said Biden needed to use the summit to “significantly reverse the impression” left by his poor debate performance.
“This is a great opportunity for him to provide energetic leadership, to underscore his commitment to the alliance, the administration’s commitment and even the Congress’ commitment, to bring to the table the resolve that has made NATO so successful,” Brzezinski said.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Jill Lawless in London and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.
