By Maddie Greves
President Joe Biden has started meeting with world leaders not long after his inauguration. Even after he was called to be the president elect on November 7th, many world leaders congratulated him and stated how they were excited to start working together. Leaders of nations that have close ties to the United States like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, quickly came out with responses to Biden’s victory. Macron stated, “We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let’s work together!” and Merkel stated, “Our trans-Atlantic friendship is irreplaceable, if we want to overcome the great challenges of our time.” There were messages of wanting to strengthen the relationships the United States has with these nations and a desire to get to work as soon as possible. Even those who have been associated with Trump like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave congratulations to Biden.
While there have not been many meetings with world leaders, President Biden started with two countries that the United States has had notably strong relationships with for centuries. Biden’s first meeting was the day after his inauguration with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Their meeting consisted of strengthening the U.S – Canadian relationship, which is known as one of the strongest relationships the United States has. One of the main points that they talked about was Biden’s decision to stop the construction of the XL pipeline, a decision Trudeau was not thrilled about.
Biden’s next meeting was with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, which took place on January 23. Like Canada’s relation with the United States, England has an incredibly strong relationship with the U.S. In November when the election was called, Johnson replied with,
Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election… and to Kamala Harris on her historic achievement. The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.
Most of what they discussed was to continue strengthening the relationship the U.S and the U.K have and work on their roles in NATO to ensure the best interests for both countries.
On January 23, Biden’s last meeting was with Mexico’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Trump did not have the best relationship with Mexico, most notably calling for a wall to be built on the border and having Mexico paying for it. In Biden’s meeting, they did not talk about the two countries’ relationship from the past four years. Instead, this call focused mostly on immigration and how to control the number of immigrants in both countries.
What do these meetings mean for Biden and the United States?
Having these meetings with countries that have had long time relations shows that Biden is willing to work to ensure the best interest for the United States and other countries. On Friday February 19th, Biden met virtually with G7 leaders for the first time at the Munich Security Conference. During this meeting, Biden declared that the United States would no longer have an “America First” diplomacy and instead would be focusing on working with allies to benefit each other. Points that were brought up were how is a post Trump era going to look and figuring ways of finding a common approach with Russia and China, and As President Biden said during the conference, “America is Back America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back. And we are not looking backward; we are looking forward, together.”
Sources
- https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/europe/global-reaction-joe-biden-inauguration-intl/index.html
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/readout-of-president-joe-biden-call-with-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-of-canada/
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/23/readout-of-president-joe-biden-call-with-prime-minister-boris-johnson-of-the-united-kingdom/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/world/americas/biden-international-reaction.html
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/23/readout-of-president-joe-biden-call-with-president-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-of-mexico/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54845979
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/world/americas/biden-international-reaction.html
- https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/politics/biden-lpez-obrador-call/index.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/19/world/g7-meeting-munich-security-conference
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/19/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-2021-virtual-munich-security-conference/
Photo
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/europe/global-reaction-joe-biden-inauguration-intl/index.html