President Biden will participate in two more sessions with Group of Seven leaders Sunday in Cornwall, England, wrapping up the final day of the G-7 summit and marking the mid-point of his first trip abroad as president.
On the way to the plenary sessions in Carbis Bay Sunday morning, Biden made an unannounced visit to attend mass at a Catholic church in St. Ives.
After the G-7 sessions conclude, Biden will hold a news conference at Cornwall Airport Newquay, shortly before flying to London. There, he and first lady Jill Biden will meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
Later Sunday, Biden will travel to Brussels.
Biden asks G-7 to take a tougher line on China, but not all allies are enthusiastic
CARBIS BAY, England — Biden is asking leaders of other wealthy democracies to form a unified front against China’s use of forced labor, arguing Saturday that a stronger line is a moral and practical imperative.
Members of the Group of Seven economic club also agreed on a joint alternative to heavy-handed Chinese economic expansion tactics that can leave poorer nations saddled with debt, although China’s trillion-dollar infrastructure program has a vast head start.
Countering China is fast becoming a central element of Biden’s foreign policy, despite extensive trade ties and hopes for cooperation to combat climate change and other priorities.
But some of the leaders Biden is seeing for the annual G-7 session are less eager to prod Beijing over its labor practices. It appeared unlikely that Biden could persuade them to fully back his proposal to call out China for its use of forced labor, including of the Uyghur ethnic and religious minority.
Did Biden give Boris Johnson a $6,000 bike and get a Wikipedia printout in return? Not exactly.
There are few things more awkward than an uneven gift exchange.
So when reports began circulating that Biden had given British Prime Minister Boris Johnson a $6,000 custom-made bicycle at the Group of Seven summit — only to receive a photo of Frederick Douglass that had been printed out from Wikipedia in exchange — it seemed like a particularly cringeworthy moment in international diplomacy.
“The total lack of respect for Biden captured in one gift exchange,” Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, tweeted.
The reality, however, is more complicated.
For starters, the State Department paid $1,800 for the bicycle, Bilenky Cycle Works told The Washington Post. The small Philadelphia-based business typically charges $6,000 for a similar lightweight model. And the custom Union Jack graphics, matching helmet, bronze and silver badge displaying crisscrossed British and American flags on the head tube, and rush fees would have brought the total cost to $10,000 under normal circumstances.
Analysis: As Biden tries to rally allies, he faces questions abroad about the state of U.S. democracy
If anyone doubted that much of the world felt a great sense of relief when Joe Biden became president, a new survey of attitudes in countries around the world confirms as much. But the survey also underscores the degree to which people in other countries have concerns about the health of America’s democracy after Donald Trump’s presidency.
The survey, produced by Pew Research Center, was released just as Biden was beginning his first trip abroad as president with meetings in which reestablishing U.S. leadership among allies and rallying democracies is a major priority.
The survey showed an overnight change in attitudes across 12 countries since the end of Trump’s presidency: Favorable impressions of the United States jumped from 34 percent before Trump left office to 62 percent now. And while 17 percent had said they had confidence “in the U.S. president to do the right thing regarding world affairs” at the end of Trump’s presidency, 75 percent express confidence in the president today.
The not-so-good news from the survey is that despite the confidence that people abroad express about the change in administrations, there are continuing doubts about the strength of American democracy.
Trump’s shadow still looms over cloudy skies at G-7 summit
CARBIS BAY, England — Addressing U.S. troops shortly after his arrival in England this past week, Biden took pains to stress the importance of working with allied nations, emphasizing a partnership “grounded on democratic ideals and a shared vision of the future.”
He underscored his belief in the importance of Article 5, the NATO agreement that an attack on one nation is an attack on all, calling the U.S. commitment “rock solid” to the alliance’s “sacred obligation.”
And he took a stern posture ahead of a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin — warning that he planned to “let him know what I want him to know.”
Through it all, Biden never once mentioned the name of his predecessor, Donald Trump. Yet Trump’s shadow has loomed large over Biden’s first trip abroad as president — an eight-day swing through Cornwall, England; Brussels; and Geneva, where Biden is being welcomed as much for who he is not as for who he is.
