According to two people familiar with the arrangements, President Joe Biden intends to give two significant speeches prior to his departure from office in an attempt to highlight the main aspects of his legacy from more than 50 years in public service.
These insiders added that Biden’s first speech, which will center on foreign policy, is anticipated to be given shortly after his return from his trip to Italy on January 12. According to them, Biden intends to give a farewell speech to the nation to conclude his last days in office.
According to the people with knowledge of the president’s preparations, neither speech has been completely written, but the subjects and general structure have been established.
According to those with knowledge of the president’s intentions, Biden is anticipated to convey a message to Americans for the future and consider his four years in the White House as well as his decades in public office.
Like some of Biden’s recent predecessors, such as former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who gave their farewell speeches from the White House, and former President Barack Obama, who chose to address the nation from his hometown of Chicago in front of a sizable crowd of supporters, the traditional address is anticipated to channel a similar spirit.
The day before Biden took office, President-elect Donald Trump uploaded a pre-recorded video message to the internet following his defeat in the 2020 election.
According to those familiar with the president’s talks, Biden’s foreign policy speech will center on his conviction that America is stronger when it invests in its international partnerships. Biden is anticipated to emphasize his administration’s financial and military assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s incursion in 2022, as well as his initiatives to deepen and expand U.S.-North Atlantic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
It’s unclear how much Biden’s decision to order the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021—which has drawn harsh criticism and led to the deaths of 13 American service members—will be discussed in the address.
According to those familiar with the president’s plans, Biden is likely to make reference to his administration’s efforts to fight terrorist organizations, such as ISIS, but the speech is not anticipated to focus on domestic terrorism threats in the wake of the New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day.
According to a person involved with the talks, the administration is considering further actions it could take before Biden leaves office in an effort to assist stop assaults motivated by domestic radicalization.
The president has a hectic final two weeks in office planned. On Monday, he will travel to New Orleans to speak with local officials and the relatives of those who were attacked there. After that, he will travel to California to showcase his environmental accomplishments, which include the creation of new national monuments.
Biden is expected to make his final foreign trip while in office on Thursday when he embarks on a three-day trip to Rome and Vatican City.
Additionally, according to a person familiar with the arrangements, the president is anticipated to grant more pardons before departing the White House on January 20. These pardons will expressly address sentencing inequities. According to this source, Biden has not made up his mind to pardon those who would be singled out for retaliation by the incoming Trump administration, but he would not pardon those who refuse clemency.
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