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Biden opens busy foreign policy stretch as anxious allies shift gaze to Trump, Harris

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Biden opens busy foreign policy stretch as anxious allies shift gaze to Trump, Harris
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Biden opens busy foreign policy stretch as anxious allies shift gaze to Trump, Harris

2024-09-21 08:14 Last Updated At:08:20

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden is opening a busy stretch Friday tending to international allies anxious about where U.S. foreign policy is headed when he leaves office in four months, most likely leaving behind a difficult set of crises for former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris to contend with.

But even as Biden launches into a week of talks with world leaders that will take place in Delaware, the White House and at the United Nations, global attention has begun drifting toward Trump and Harris, who are offering voters — and the world— sharply diverging views on foreign policy.

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President Joe Biden's speaks with football players at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Del., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, during a walkthrough visit ahead of his meetings with world leaders there on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Joe Biden's speaks with football players at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Del., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, during a walkthrough visit ahead of his meetings with world leaders there on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

First lady Jill Biden, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden with, from left, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden with, from left, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“The more I talk to people around the world, the more I get a sense of profound anxiety about the shape of the U.S. election,” said Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Alterman added that Biden’s upcoming engagements with world leaders could seem like “a sideshow” as much of the world focuses on Harris and Trump.

Biden kicked off his spurt of diplomacy on Friday by hosting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for talks at his home near Wilmington, Delaware. The White House said the two leaders' discussion touched on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, China’s military assertiveness in the South China Sea and tensions with Taiwan, as well as other issues.

The president will hold one-on-one talks at his house on Saturday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. They're all visiting the president's hometown for a meeting of the Indo-Pacific group known as the Quad.

The four leaders will get together for a joint meeting Saturday, and Biden will hold a dinner for them at the high school he attend more than 60 years ago. The president stopped by the school, Archmere Academy, on Friday evening and greeted the football team.

One student asked Biden what it was like being president. Biden replied, “It’s a lot like being class president, only joking.”

Biden will then welcome United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the White House on Monday for talks before setting off for three days at the U.N. General Assembly, where the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are expected to dominate the agenda and be at the heart of Biden's Tuesday address to the assembly.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will come to Washington on Thursday for talks with Biden. And more leader meetings on the sidelines of the U.N. are expected to be added to the president's schedule.

All the while, world leaders are beginning to seek audiences with Harris and Trump as they try to get a better understanding of what comes next.

Trump said this week that he plans to meet with Modi during the Indian leader's U.S. visit for the U.N. gathering and Quad summit.

The former president, speaking at a campaign rally, called Modi “fantastic” even as he grumbled that India had become a “very big abuser” in its trade relationship with the United States.

Trump said he will also “probably” meet with Zelenskyy next week. The two last spoke by phone in July and last met in person on the sidelines of the 2019 U.N. General Assembly.

That face-to-face meeting happened about two months after a phone call in which Trump called on Zelenskyy to investigate Biden’s actions in Ukraine when he was vice president during the Obama administration. It was the call that led to Trump's first impeachment.

The Ukrainians have informed the White House that they are arranging a meeting with Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether it was informed by the Indian government or Trump about the planned Modi visit with the GOP nominee.

Zelenskyy will also meet with Harris on Thursday, separately from Biden's sitdown, the White House said. Harris last met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of an international gathering in Switzerland in June.

The White House said that Harris would also hold her own meeting on Monday with UAE president.

Biden in his final months in office is trying to manage a set of foreign policy crises that could still worsen and complicate his legacy.

White House-led efforts to win a cease-fire and hostage deal in the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza have stalled. The conflict is now in danger of spiraling into a full-blown regional war as tensions rise on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Those tensions heightened after Israel on Friday carried out targeted air strikes near Beirut.

The action followed two waves of deadly attacks earlier this week in which hundreds of hand-held pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploded. The sophisticated sabotage operations are widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. The operations killed dozens and wounded hundreds.

The air strikes and audacious electronic device attacks are raising questions about whether Biden's influence with Israel is waning, a notion that the White House disputes.

A day before Tuesday's first wave of attacks, senior White House official Amos Hochstein visited Israel and warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials against taking action that could intensify the conflict.

Asked if getting a hostage deal may be slipping out of reach in the final months of his presidency, Biden told reporters Friday he still had hope and that his national security team continues to work to get a deal completed.

“If I ever said it wasn’t realistic, we might as well leave,” Biden said. “A lot of things don’t look realistic until we get them done. We have to keep at it.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine is pressing Biden to allow the use of Western provided long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russia. It's a move that President Vladimir Putin has warned would mean that the U.S. and European countries are at war with Russia.

Harris, if elected, is expected to take a similar approach to foreign policy as Biden.

Since jumping into the presidential race, Harris has pitched herself as a critical member of Biden's foreign policy team, deeply engaged with the administration's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Hamas' invasion of Israel and helping the president bolster ties in the Pacific.

At the same time, Harris has called out Trump for being too cozy with authoritarian leaders during his four years in the White House.

During this month's presidential debate, Harris told Trump that Putin “would eat you for lunch" and noted Trump had exchanged “love letters” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and generally “admires dictators.”

“It is absolutely well known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again, because they’re so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favors,” Harris previously told Trump.

For his part, Trump has claimed that Harris is not capable as a negotiator, “hates Israel," and shares responsibility for the Biden administration's “embarrassing” troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Biden's plans for the weekend's summit show he is trying to bring a personal touch to the gathering, welcoming leaders for talks at his private residence and hosting Saturday night's dinner at his high school alma mater.

The White House said the leaders would also roll out an announcement related to Biden's Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a long-running passion project of the president and his wife aimed at reducing cancer deaths. The Bidens' son Beau died in 2015 at the age 46 of brain cancer.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the summit was designed to have a more intimate feel.

“He wanted to have a private moment with them, to continue to grow those relationships,” Jean-Pierre said. “That’s what this is about.”

Madhani reported from Washington.

President Joe Biden's speaks with football players at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Del., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, during a walkthrough visit ahead of his meetings with world leaders there on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Joe Biden's speaks with football players at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Del., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, during a walkthrough visit ahead of his meetings with world leaders there on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

First lady Jill Biden, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a cabinet meeting presided over by President Joe Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden with, from left, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden with, from left, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden, back row, center, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the members of his cabinet and first lady Jill Biden, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Bitcoin soars past $109,000 ahead of possible early action on crypto by Trump

2025-01-20 23:49 Last Updated At:23:52

WASHINGTON (AP) — The price of bitcoin surged to over $109,000 early Monday, just hours ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, as a pumped up cryptocurrency industry bets he'll take action soon after returning to the White House.

Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin “ seems like a scam,” Trump has embraced digital currencies with a convert’s zeal. He's launched a new cryptocurrency venture and vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the U.S. into the “crypto capital” of the world.

His promises including creating a U.S. crypto stockpile, enacting industry-friendly regulation and event appointing a crypto “czar” for his administration.

“You’re going to be very happy with me,” Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a bitcoin conference last summer.

Bitcoin is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and was created in 2009 as a kind of electronic cash uncontrolled by banks or governments. It and newer forms of cryptocurrencies have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in wild fits and starts.

The highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies as well as their use by criminals, scammers and rogue nations, has attracted plenty of critics, who say the digital currencies have limited utility and often are just Ponzi schemes.

But crypto has so far defied naysayers and survived multiple prolonged price drops in its short lifespan. Wealthy players in the crypto industry, which felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win November’s election. Bitcoin has surged in price since Trump's victory, topping $100,000 for the first time last month before briefly sliding down to about $90,000. On Friday, it rose about 5%. It jumped more than $9,000 early Monday, according to CoinDesk.

Two years ago, bitcoin was trading at about $20,000.

Trump’s picks for key cabinet and regulatory positions are stocked with crypto supporters, including his choice to lead the Treasury and Commerce departments and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Key industry players held a first ever "Crypto Ball” on Friday to celebrate the first “crypto president." The event was sold out, with tickets costing several thousand dollars.

Here’s a look at some detailed action Trump might take in the early days of his administration:

As a candidate Trump promised that he would create a special advisory council to provide guidance on creating “clear” and “straightforward” regulations on crypto within the first 100 days of his presidency.

Details about the council and its membership are still unclear, but after winning November’s election, Trump named tech executive and venture capitalist David Sacks to be the administration’s crypto “czar.” Trump also announced in late December that former North Carolina congressional candidate Bo Hines will be the executive director of the “Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.”

At last year’s bitcoin conference, Trump told crypto supporters that new regulations “will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry.” Trump's pick to lead the SEC, Paul Atkins, has been a strong advocate for cryptocurrencies.

Crypto investors and companies chafed as what they said was a hostile Biden administration that went overboard in unfair enforcement actions and accounting policies that have stifled innovation in the industry — particularly at the hands of outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

“As far as general expectations from the Trump Administration, I think one of the best things to bet on is a tone change at the SEC,” said Peter Van Valkenburgh, the executive director of the advocacy group Coin Center.

Gensler, who is set to leave as Trump takes office, said in a recent interview with Bloomberg that he’s proud of his office’s actions to police the crypto industry, which he said is “rife with bad actors.”

Trump also promised that as president he’ll ensure the U.S. government stockpiles bitcoin, much like it already does with gold. At the bitcoin conference earlier this summer, Trump said it the U.S. government would keep, rather than auction off, the billions of dollars in bitcoin it has seized through law enforcement actions.

Crypto advocates have posted a draft executive order online that would establish a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” as a “permanent national asset” to be administered by the Treasury Department through its Exchange Stabilization Fund. The draft order calls for the Treasury Department to eventually hold at least $21 billion in bitcoin.

Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has proposed legislation mandating the U.S. government stockpile bitcoin, which advocates said would help diversify government holdings and hedge against financial risks. Critics say bitcoin’s volatility make it a poor choice as a reserve asset.

Creating such a stockpile would also be a “giant step in the direction of bitcoin becoming normalized, becoming legitimatized in the eyes of people who don’t yet see it as legitimate,” said Zack Shapiro, an attorney who is head of policy at the Bitcoin Policy Institute.

At the bitcoin conference earlier this year, Trump received loud cheers when he reiterated a promise to commute the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the convicted founder of the drug-selling website Silk Road that used crypto for payments.

Ulbricht’s case has energized some crypto advocates and Libertarian activists, who believe government investigators overreached in building their case against Silk Road.

FILE - Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

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