President obama and joe biden

Joe Biden's presidency is a chance to reshape NATO to face looming threats, the alliance's boss said today. Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said Donald Trump's White House successor offered a “unique” opportunity to reform the 72-year-old group. Former Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Stoltenberg told the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank: “The new Biden administration provides a unique opportunity to re-energise, to revitalise, to rebuild NATO.” Mr Biden, 78, was Barack Obama's vice-president for eight years and previously played a leading foreign affairs role on Capitol Hill. His predecessor as US President, Mr Trump, refused to commit to NATO's Article V principle of mutual self-defence – that an attack on one member nation was an assault on all. And he caused chaos at the 2018 summit in Brussels with an unprecedented rant at allies over defence spending. But he was eventually praised for forcing European countries to pump more money into their … [Read more...] about Joe Biden’s presidency a ‘unique’ chance to rebuild NATO, says alliance chief

It is Joe Biden’s biggest foreign policy headache. As well as confronting the Covid pandemic, the president-elect has to deal with a more familiar problem: Russia. Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election cast a shadow over US politics for four long years. And now the Kremlin appears to have struck again. This week details emerged of an unprecedented cyber-attack against US government departments. Beginning in March, suspected Russian hackers penetrated Washington’s signature institutions. They include the commerce and treasury departments, homeland security, nuclear laboratories and the Pentagon, as well as leading Fortune companies. For months the Russian spies roamed at will, apparently undetected. Only now are aghast officials scoping the damage. The hacking is a brutal reminder of how Vladimir Putin and the KGB agents around him view the world. They regard the US as the glavniy protivnik or main enemy. This adversarial cold war mindset endures, … [Read more...] about Cyber-attack is brutal reminder of the Russia problem facing Joe Biden

Prince Charles has sent a personal letter to new US President Joe Biden, after being “hugely encouraged” by his plans to make the global climate crisis a top priority. The Prince of Wales believes Mr Biden could be a powerful ally in his crusade to convince governments and big business to tackle the climate emergency. Within days of taking office, the President announced a series of measures aimed at immediately undoing the legacy of his predecessor Donald Trump. Charles - who celebrated his 50th year campaigning on the environment this year - sent his letter last week following Mr Biden’s January 20 inauguration and congratulated him on his hard fought victory over Donald Trump. Six years Mr Biden’s junior, Charles, 72, is said to be “full of admiration” for the President who, just hours after being sworn in reinstated the US to the Paris Climate Agreement, the international effort to curb the dangerous heating of the planet. A royal source said: … [Read more...] about Prince Charles ‘hugely encouraged’ by Joe Biden’s plans to tackle climate crisis

President Joe Biden will invite the Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the National Basketball Association champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, to the White House at a future date.  'We look forward to inviting the Buccaneers as well as the 2020 NBA champions the Lakers to the White House when it is COVID safe, but I don't know when that will take place yet,' press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Monday in the briefing room.  That means Biden will continue a White House tradition that produced a number of headlines during President Donald Trump's four years in office, with both players and the president sometimes refusing to meet.    President Joe Biden will invite the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Lakers to the White House for winning championships, the White House confirmed Monday  White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the visits would happen when it's 'COVID safe'  Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski (left) and … [Read more...] about Joe Biden will invite Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers to the White House ‘when it’s COVID safe’

Boris Johnson says removing the bust of Churchill from the Oval Office is up to Joe Biden , despite blasting Barack Obama for doing the same. Boris Johnson publicly blasted President Obama for changing White House decor to remove the statue of Britain's wartime PM. But his spokesman was unable to explain why his reaction to Biden's redecoration was different. The spokesman said: "The Oval Office is the President’s private office and it’s up to the President to decorate it as he wishes.” But in 2016, the Prime Minister - then Mayor of London - suggested the "snub" was down to "part-Kenyan" Mr Obama's "ancestral dislike of the British Empire." President Biden's redecorated Oval Office features busts and paintings of American politicians and civil rights leaders, including Cesar Chavez and Robert F Kennedy. The much-criticised painting of Andrew Jackson prominent in Donald Trump's oval has been replaced by portraits of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin D Roosevelt, Alexander … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson says removing Churchill’s bust is ‘up to Joe Biden’ after Obama blast