Trump’s meetings with foreign leaders 'do little to erase his alarming rhetoric': Biden spox

01 May 2024

Former President Donald Trump has lately made a show of hosting various foreign leaders at his properties, including Trump Tower and his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. But President Joe Biden's reelection campaign says those meetings don't improve their rival's reputation for chaotic international diplomacy.

Last month, Trump hosted Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in Manhattan, and also had a meeting in New York with former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso while he was in town for his criminal trial. And the ex-president has also hosted Hungarian President Viktor Orbán and British Foreign Secretary (and former prime minister) David Cameron at Mar-a-Lago.

NBC News reported that while Biden's campaign described those meetings as "annoying," they aren't worried about the former president undermining the administration's foreign policy agenda, nor tarnishing Biden's reputation with American allies.

"I don’t get the sense that there’s a lot of pearl-clutching here about it," an unnamed senior Biden administration official told NBC.

Rather, those in Biden's orbit insist that Trump is trying in vain to restore what they characterize as a mercurial and incompetent foreign policy record. Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa specifically mentioned the former president's past statements suggesting he wouldn't honor Article 5 of the NATO treaty and his tacit support of Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempted conquest of Ukraine.

“Trump’s photo ops do little to erase his alarming rhetoric now or his disastrous record as president when he consistently sided with dictators over democracy, undermined our allies, and embarrassed our nation on the international stage,” Moussa stated.

“A second Donald Trump term promises to be even more dangerous than the first — promising to be a dictator on day one, letting Vladimir Putin do ‘whatever the hell he wants’ across Europe and abandoning our allies to make Americans at home less safe," he added.

NBC noted that Biden has nonetheless taken some actions against foreign leaders who met with Trump prior to meeting with Biden that could be perceived as somewhat retaliatory. In one instance, Biden was scheduled to meet with David Cameron in-person at the White House. However, after Cameron's visit to Mar-a-Lago, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan "downgraded" that meeting to a phone call. Sullivan insisted that the change was merely due to a scheduling conflict.

Biden is also insisting that Trump isn't changing leaders' perception of the Biden White House as the primary destination for visiting foreign dignitaries. The president met with Duda in March — roughly a month before his photo-op with Trump in New York — as the Polish leader urged the U.S. government to swiftly pass another aid package for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, an unnamed Trump spokesperson insisted to NBC that the former president's criminal proceedings "have not been a hindrance" in meeting with various foreign leaders. He added that they are "unconcerned about public opinion back home, and "see it as a big positive to be seen with [Trump].”

Read NBC's report in its entirety by clicking here.

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