After speaking with European leaders, President-elect Joe Biden said he’s “letting them know that America is back” after four years of Donald Trump’s dalliance with authoritarian strongmen.
In response to their congratulations, Biden offered the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Ireland “messages of support and cooperation,” reports the New York Times, citing Biden’s transition team. Others congratulating Biden included prime ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Narenda Modi of India.
To French President Emmanuel Macron, the president-elect expressed “his interest in reinvigorating bilateral and trans-Atlantic ties, including through NATO” and the European Union — institutions Mr. Trump often derided, the Times says.
“Coupled with the conspicuous silence of more authoritarian leaders,” the Times says, the conversations “provided early hints of a reordering of American allies and antagonists back to their state before Mr. Trump’s disruptive foreign policy sank trans-Atlantic relations to their lowest point since World War II.”
Germany’s Angela Merkel, Britain’s Boris Johnson, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and India’s Narendra Modi were among world leaders to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. There were notable exceptions. https://t.co/3sOd6jJlHe
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 8, 2020
Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the authoritarian leaders of Brazil and China have not yet congratulated Biden, nor reacted in any official way to his election victory.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a NATO member, waited until Tuesday to offer his congratulations.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a conservative populist who enjoyed a congenial relationship with Trump, told Parliament he had spoken with Biden, and got some pushback from a prominent member of the Labor Party.
Referring to Trump as Johnson’s “erstwhile best friend,” MP Angela Eagle noted that Trump’s refusal to acknowledge Biden’s victory “is both embarrassing for him and dangerous for American democracy.”
But Johnson is shedding no apparent tears for Trump.
In a Twitter post, Johnson said he’s looking forward “to working with the incoming president on climate change, democracy promotion and, echoing a Biden campaign slogan, ‘building back better’ from the coronavirus pandemic,” the Times says.
He also addressed his call with Biden today during a session of parliament.
Johnson refers to Trump as "the previous president"https://t.co/ZHElW7cnIx
— Alex Burns (@alexanderburns) November 11, 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel “is clearly delighted” by Biden’s victory, the newspaper says, after enduring four years of Trump’s complaints that Germany has taken advantage of the U.S., both economically and militarily.
https://twitter.com/marceldirsus/status/1325822934502543360?s=21