President Joe Biden’s first overseas trip in office will be to the United Kingdom and Belgium in June, according to the White House.
Biden, who traveled widely as President Barack Obama’s vice president and as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, will fly to Cornwall on the southwest tip of England to take part in the G-7 summit from June 11-13, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced in a statement on Friday. He will then travel to Brussels, Belgium, for the NATO summit on June 14 before a separate United States–European Union summit.
“This trip will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure America’s interests,” Psaki said.
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Biden will meet independently with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other world leaders on the sidelines of the G-7 summit to discuss public health amid the coronavirus pandemic, economic recovery after the COVID-19 outbreak, and climate change, according to Psaki. Biden will also hold bilateral meetings with NATO allies to talk about trans-Atlantic security, collective defense, and “effective burden sharing,” she said.
The EU summit will focus, too, on digital and trade cooperation, Psaki added.
Biden’s agenda is contrasted with President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy. Trump, however, also pressed NATO countries to up their contributions, scrutinizing them for their slow progress in achieving the defense spending target of 2% of GDP by 2024.
Biden virtually hosted foreign counterparts at the White House before his first in-person meeting last week with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
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The trip’s announcement coincides with this week’s two-day climate change gathering, which convened roughly 40 leaders online to discuss carbon emissions targets among other pro-environment measures.
