United States: NATO leaders were meeting in Washington, D.C., to show their unity and strength in facing big challenges. But instead of focusing on the leaders from other countries, the attention was on President Joe Biden and questions about whether he can continue to be president for another four years
But as former President Donald Trump edges ahead in some polls, the looming U.S. election in November has also infused new urgency into some of NATO’s key priorities.
Biden’s Leadership Under Scrutiny
Among the anticipated events of the three-day summit are a commemoration event Tuesday at the Mellon Auditorium, the site where the NATO treaty was formally signed in 1949; a bilateral meeting with newly elected U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer; a meeting with the EU and NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners; and an event with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and nearly two dozen allies and partners who have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.
Biden’s Next big test:
After Biden’s debate performance last month ignited panic among Democrats, his campaign has been urgently searching for opportunities to undo the damage and prove the president can be an effective leader in the future.
The president himself has set the stakes for the summit remarkably high. On Friday, during his 21-minute interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, he mentioned the alliance six times, saying the event would be “a good way to judge me.”
Biden’s Preparations and Summit Goals
But the optics for Biden’s campaign may not be ideal. The summit will mark the 75th anniversary of the alliance, and among its 32 members, Biden is the only head of government who was alive during its founding. The president, 81, will share stages with leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen and plenty of other officials who are about half his age.
In preparation for the summit, officials say Biden has spent hours huddling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the White House — including on the eve of the summit and over the Fourth of July holiday.
A “Trump-proof” NATO?
Long before the presidential debate in June, NATO observers have been buzzing about efforts to ensure the alliance can stay the course through political headwinds churned up by changes in leadership.
While the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, is scheduled to step down this fall, much of the attention has been fixed on the U.S. election and what pundits describe as a race to “Trump-proof” the alliance, which the former president has repeatedly threatened to leave. (Trump also said in February) he wouldn’t protect a NATO nation that didn’t contribute enough defense funds and, instead, he’d “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want.”)
