Via/AP
Joe Biden has launched a fierce critique of Donald Trump, condemning the former president’s suggestion that Ukraine should give up territory to Russia as “modern-day appeasement” of Vladimir Putin. In a BBC interview filmed in Delaware his first since leaving office Biden warned that conceding land to Putin would be a strategic mistake.
He called out Trump’s views on the conflict, saying, “Putin views Ukraine as part of Russia,” and cautioned, “Anyone who thinks he’s going to stop if you give him part of it is just foolish.”
The interview, timed with the 80th anniversary of VE Day, underscored Biden’s concerns about the future of NATO and transatlantic relations. He expressed fear that a second Trump presidency could fracture the alliance and shift the course of global history. “It would change the modern history of the world,” Biden stated.
Biden also addressed a reported Oval Office meeting earlier this year, during which Trump confronted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I found it sort of beneath America the way that took place,” he told the Irish Star, continuing his pattern of denouncing Trump’s foreign policy posture.
He didn’t stop there—Biden also criticized Trump’s erratic comments about reclaiming foreign territories. “And the way we talk about now that that ‘Well it’s the Gulf of America, maybe we’re gonna have to take back Panama, maybe we need to acquire Greenland, maybe Canada should be’,” he said. Questioning the very nature of such rhetoric, Biden exclaimed, “What the hell is going on here? What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are, we’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”
Biden also reflected on his decision to exit the 2024 race in July, citing age and health concerns. “It was just a difficult decision,” he admitted, adding that he believed the timing allowed Kamala Harris enough momentum to challenge Trump. “I don’t think it would have mattered. We left at a time when we had a good candidate, she was fully funded.”
Although he had once intended to hand leadership to a younger generation, Biden explained his initial decision to run: “I meant what I said when I started that I think I’m prepared to hand this to the next generation.” Still, he acknowledged the challenge of stepping aside: “Things moved too quickly that it made it difficult to walk away… it was just a difficult decision.”
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