President Biden enjoyed a warm welcome from a crowd of thousands as he arrived in Angola this week, as the president made good on his long awaited first visit to sub-Saharan Africa.
Biden, likely on his last overseas trip before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in the White House next month, is already being overshadowed on the world stage by his predecessor and successor.
‘The Oval Office has been replaced by Mar-a-Lago,’ Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump’s first term, told Fox News.
Additionally, Matt Mowers, a veteran GOP national public affairs strategist and former diplomat at the State Department during Trump’s first administration, made the case that ‘Joe Biden’s essentially been a lame duck’ for months and that ‘world leaders have been shifting their gaze to the next administration.’
Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College, highlighted that ‘while President-elect is still weeks away from taking the oath of office, loyalties and the attention of world leaders has shifted to the incoming President and from Washington to Mar-a-lago with breathtaking speed.’
While members of the Biden White House would likely disagree with such sentiments – especially after the current administration played a large role in hammering out the cease-fire that halted fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah – it is undeniable that world leaders have already started to engage directly with the incoming president and administration.
Trump will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron after the French president invited him to attend Saturday’s star-studded VIP event for the official reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire wrecked the Paris landmark.
The president-elect’s appearance will serve as Trump’s unofficial return to the global stage, and it is another reminder that he is quickly becoming the center of the world’s attention.
The trip to Paris comes a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hastily made an unannounced stop in Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump after the president-elect threatened a trade war with Canada and Mexico.
Trump argued that Canada had failed to prevent large amounts of drugs and undocumented people from crossing the northern border into the U.S. and also pointed to America’s massive trade deficit with Canada.
According to reporting from Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state.
Trump also weighed in this week in the volatile Middle East, warning in a social media post that there would be ‘ALL HELL TO PAY’ if Hamas does not release all the hostages held in Gaza before he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Hours later, Trump pledged to block the purchase of U.S. Steel – a top American manufacturer – by the Japanese company Nippon Steel.
‘I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,’ Trump said on social media. ‘As President, I will block this deal from happening.’
Trump, who reiterated comments he made earlier this year on the presidential campaign trail, is on the same page as Biden, who has vowed that U.S. Steel will remain American-owned.
Biden’s trip to Africa is putting a spotlight on his administration’s commitment to the continent, which has increasingly been courted by massive investments from China. Biden is also highlighting America’s wide-ranging effort to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa, a continent Trump never visited during his first term in the White House.
However, the president’s trip will be overshadowed by Trump’s upcoming stop in France, as the president-elect is increasingly courted by world leaders.
While the spotlight traditionally shifts from the outgoing to the incoming president, Mowers argued that ‘it is more pronounced this time because the difference in the Biden and Trump approach to foreign policy is so different.’
Mowers emphasized that Trump is already aiming ‘to shape world events’ by ‘being bold, not timid, in the statements he’s putting out, and the world is already reacting to that kind of American strength.’
Bartlett noted that ‘the world is demanding leadership.’ Mowers added that ‘world leaders that want to get something done… have to engage with Trump.’
Lesperance, pointing to Biden’s swing through Africa, noted that lame duck presidents’ final weeks are ‘usually filled with celebratory moments and efforts to cement one’s legacy. Often the focus is on their role on the world stage on behalf of America and its allies.’
However, he argued that ‘Biden’s pronouncements on Ukraine, Gaza and the importance of climate change go largely ignored by world leaders. Instead, they focus on Trump’s picks for his foreign policy team and pronouncements about changes in U.S. foreign policy position. It’s pretty evident that while Biden attempts a victory tour, the world has turned the page.’