ORLANDO, Fla. — Veteran Republican diplomat Richard Grenell blamed President Joe Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a speech to activists gathered for the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Grenell, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Germany and later acting director of national intelligence, was appointed to both posts by former President Donald Trump. He said in a Friday afternoon speech focused on the need for the United States to rediscover “muscular diplomacy” that Biden emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin because he failed to use the toughest diplomatic and economic sanctions at his disposal to deter Moscow before the invasion of Ukraine commenced this week.
“This week, we witnessed a total collapse of diplomacy,” Grenell said to an energetic hotel ballroom in central Florida. “President Biden told us that he was going to bring diplomacy back. Instead, it’s on its back. We desperately need new, creative, visionary diplomacy — muscular diplomacy to secure meaningful peace when a conflict arises.”
BIDEN FOREIGN POLICY STRUGGLES FUEL MIKE POMPEO SPEECH AT CPAC
“Is American diplomacy working?” he asked the CPAC audience. “Europe has seen its borders rewritten this week under Joe Biden — and in 2014 when Barack Obama was president. And yet the Left continues to mock the successful America First diplomatic strategy.”
Grenell argued over the course of his 15-minute speech that U.S. diplomacy under Trump was competent, effective, and unappreciated, if not outright slandered by Democrats and a compliant media that did not give the former president the credit he deserved for his successes.
“They pretend that Donald Trump’s unpredictability was harmful,” he said. “Well, I saw firsthand that having a president putting the American people first and calling out the Germans for their hypocrisy and not telling our enemies what our strategy is — that made America and Europe safer.”
Trump presided over historic peace agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Meanwhile, he was criticized by the Left and by some on the Right for occasionally threatening to withdraw the U.S. from NATO.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Supporters of the former president have pointed out that Putin only chose to invade Ukraine after Trump left office.
