Biden says US and Nato will ‘stay connected’ amid threats from GOP

Mr Biden says there is ‘overwhelming support’ for the alliance in the US Congress

President Joe Biden on Thursday said the US will remain a part of the Nato alliance in the future despite the threat of a second term in the White House for Donald Trump, who has reportedly expressed a desire to pull America out of the transatlantic alliance.

Speaking along Sauli Niinistö at the Finnish presidential palace in Helsinki, Mr Biden was asked by a Finnish reporter about the US Senate’s failure to pass legislation barring US presidents from ordering a unilateral withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty.

Pressed on what actions he will take to assure Finns that America would remain a reliable member of the alliance, he replied: “I absolutely guarantee it. There is no question”.

“There’s overwhelming support from the American people. There’s overwhelming support from the members of the Congress, both House and Senate, in both parties,” he added, though he conceded “some extreme elements” of the Republican Party feel differently.

Mr Biden said the US and her Nato allies would continue to “stand together” because “the American people have known since the end of World War Two” that “unanimity among European and transatlantic partners” is “the best bet anyone could make” for global security”.

Continuing, the president interjected as the reporter attempted to ask his Finnish counterpart a question about “political instability in the US” to say that he knows it’s not possible to “guarantee the future”.

“I’m saying as sure as anything can possibly be said. about American foreign policy. We will stay connected to Nato, connected to Nato, beginning, middle, and end”.

The president’s appearance in Helsinki and his statement of support for the Nato alliance comes roughly five years to the day that his predecessor, Mr Trump, stood in the same place alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and disparaged America’s intelligence apparatus, which had concluded that Mr Putin had ordered a campaign of interference to aid Mr Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.

Mr Trump, who throughout his four years in office exhibited disdain for America’s democratic allies and the Nato alliance, reportedly planned to pull the US out of Nato had he defeated Mr Biden in the 2020 election.

The twice-impeached ex-president, who is currently running for a second term while facing multiple criminal indictments, has similarly expressed a desire to halt US support for Ukraine, which has been a hallmark of Mr Biden’s foreign policy.

Mr Biden, who appeared with Mr Niinistö following a summit meeting with other Nordic leaders, said the recent addition of Finland and the imminent addition of Sweden to the soon-to-be 32-member bloc will “add significantly to the strength, security, and unanimity” of the transatlantic alliance.

“Nato makes the entire world stronger,” he said.