In a heated debate, former President Donald Trump criticized President Joe Biden’s foreign policy, citing the tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan and alleged weaknesses that emboldened global adversaries.
Biden defended his administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, noting that both he and Trump had previously agreed to withdraw from the country. The former president, however, blasted Biden for the handling of the final days of the withdrawal, which saw 13 US troops killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing attack.
Trump accused Biden of displaying weakness to foreign adversaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He claimed that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still in office and that he would have ended the war immediately.
Trump also claimed that Israel would not be in a war against Hamas if he were still president, citing the Biden administration’s aid to Israel in its defense against a historic Iranian attack in April. The Biden administration has provided billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and Israel to defend themselves without deploying US troops.
In a tense exchange, Trump claimed that Putin said, “I think we’re going to go in and maybe take” Ukraine after seeing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also repeated his claim that he would have prevented Hamas from launching an attack on Israel.
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that Biden was “fine on substance but not compelling as a national leader.”
