The United States as a Leader of Global Affairs: Joe Biden at the G20 Summit in Brasilia and his First World Meeting with Global Leaders
At the G20 summit in Brazil, Biden will meet with dozens of world leaders. In his valedictory turn on the world stage, he’s likely to face counterparts who question the U.S. commitment to alliances given Trump’s past skepticism of multilateral relationships.
“But obviously that’s going to be exceptionally difficult to do because the rest of the world is now going to be looking to hedge the United States — in other words, reduce involvement — because America is unreliable and a risky partner,” Medeiros said.
Biden strengthened NATO during his term. He helped build alliances in Asia to counter the rise of China. Republican point to Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan as a foreign policy failure, in addition to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Trump has a different perspective than Biden. He prefers bilateral meetings to cut deals one on one in order to demonstrate his support for NATO and for Ukrainian interests in the war with Russia.
While Trump has a different approach than Biden and other Republican leaders, he is still likely to be engaged in global affairs.
“The reality is that for many, many years now, we have had changes between Democratic administrations and Republican administrations,” Pletka said. “U.S. global leadership is based not simply on sentimental ideas about the beauty of NATO or about what great chardonnay we all get together at the G7,” she said.
In the fall of 2016Barack Obama traveled to Peru to meet with leaders of the Asia- Pacific Economic Rim after Donald Trump’s first victory.
Obama had been trying to champion the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but Trump’s election spelled the end for that trade deal. “Obama’s main message in a lot of these meetings was, ‘You need to wait and see. We don’t know exactly what a Trump presidency is going to be like,'” said Ben Rhodes, who was Obama’s deputy national security adviser, and was on that trip.
“I think all the countries have their own theories about how they’re going to deal with Trump and, frankly, probably are less interested in what Joe Biden and his team have to tell them about that because they’ve lived through Trump once,” Rhodes said.
“I would have Biden make some points, because the likelihood of Trump imposing tariffs is real,” said Russel, now with the Asia Society. “And that should be a clarion call to the big offenders like China that they need to adjust their policies and their practices.”
Up First Newsletter: Donald Trump Returns to the Senate Leadership Contenders Donald Trump’s Justice Department Priorities (with an appendix by Andrew Selee)
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This week is busy for Congress as they return with a busy agenda. The first item on the list is electing who will lead each chamber. Donald Trump has made it known that he wants to influence certain choices, and his allies are pushing to make this happen.
One of Trump’s biggest decisions will be selecting the leader of the Justice Department. He criticized the DOJ and FBI on the campaign trail. Soon, he will have the opportunity to address his grievances.
One of Trump’s signature campaign promises was to “launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” Now, he’s appointed a ‘border czar,’ Tom Homan, to carry it out. Homan led Immigration and Customs Enforcement for part of Trump’s first term. Andrew Selee, president of the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute, talks to Morning Edition about a plan for mass deportation and whether living in a red or blue state matters.
Source: Top contenders to lead the Senate. And, Trump’s DOJ priorities
A Conversation with Karla Sofia Gascón in Emilia Pérez, the First Mexican Cartel Musical focusing on a Trans Woman
Karla Sofia Gascón plays the title role in the new film Emilia Pérez, the world’s first Mexican cartel musical focusing on a trans woman. When Gascón’s character is introduced, she is known as the cartel leader “Manitas” del Monte, who rules by fear and deadly force. But she wants to leave the life of violence behind and become her true self: a woman. She emerged from gender affirming surgery doing good things to right her past. Gascn spoke with Steve Inskeep from Morning Edition about what drew her to the role. Listen to what she had to say about the character and more.