EXCLUSIVE — President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would continue to back Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to stop Russia’s war, but the public is showing signs that its appetite for assistance has limits.
Speaking at the close of the NATO meeting in Madrid, Biden said Americans should expect to pay record-high gas prices until Russia is defeated in Ukraine. “As long as it takes,” Biden said, “so that Russia cannot in fact defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine.”
“This is a critical, critical position for the world,” he added.
BIDEN SAYS DRIVERS WILL PAY MORE FOR GAS ‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’ TO COUNTER RUSSIA
Over the course of six days of international summit meetings, the U.S. committed its largest military expansion in Europe since the end of the Cold War, and trans-Atlantic alliance members agreed to add two new formerly neutral Nordic countries to their ranks.
But returning home to Washington, Biden confronts a stark political reality. Soaring inflation and gas prices are weighing on families wary of more intervention in overseas conflicts and want the president to focus on domestic issues over defeating Russia, according to a new poll shared first with the Washington Examiner.
Conducted by YouGov for Concerned Veterans for America from June 23-29, the survey found that 38% of people believe Biden should prioritize the inflation crisis, compared to 8% who want the president to ensure Russia’s defeat in Ukraine. Forty-four percent are unhappy with Biden’s handling of the war.
The president warned in February that the cost of war would be steep, even as he promised not to commit U.S. troops. “I will not pretend this will be painless,” Biden said at the time.
Crippling Western sanctions were intended to crush the Russian economy and make the cost of the war prohibitive. That effort ran aground as Moscow began reaping windfall revenue from fossil fuel exports at unprecedented prices and surging volumes.
Despite feeling the political heat, Biden has stood by U.S. backing for the war, pledging with allies to shore up Europe’s defenses against Russia, expand America’s troop presence in the region, and tighten the economic screws on Moscow.
But the president is also looking to alleviate the price crunch, opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and searching for ways to create some relief.
Biden, who will travel to Saudi Arabia in July, has insisted the visit is not a push to urge the oil-rich kingdom to pump more barrels. Speaking in Madrid on Thursday, the president stressed, “That’s not the purpose of the trip.”
He said he would attend a larger meeting with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional oil cartel, after first visiting Israel. Though he did not reveal the trip’s goal, he said it was important to Israel.
“The purpose of the trip — first of all, I’m starting off on that trip in Israel. And the Israelis are — believe it’s really important that I make the trip,” Biden told reporters during a rare news conference, adding, “There’s no commitment that is being made or — I’m not even sure.”
Reports suggest Saudi Arabia is eyeing security and political concessions from the administration, unhappy with how successive presidents have sought to orient America’s foreign policy away from the Middle East.
Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that Israel and several Arab countries had already joined a U.S.-led joint air defense network, known as the Middle East Air Defense Alliance. While details are scarce, the effort may prove the latest U.S. effort toward a regional military alliance.
But Americans are reluctant to engage militarily in the Middle East, too.
When Biden travels to the Middle East this month, most people do not want him to make security commitments or promise troops to the region, the survey showed.
According to the poll, 47% of people oppose stepped-up security arrangements, including for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two long-standing U.S. partners, compared to 16% who are in favor. And they are reluctant to see Biden commit troops, which 52% of respondents said they opposed.
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“With increasing domestic economic hardship and after 20 years of endless war, it is not surprising that American voters are wary of more intervention abroad and want President Biden to focus more on our challenges here at home,” said Dan Caldwell, senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America and vice president of foreign policy for Stand Together, a Koch-supported group that has long favored a less aggressive, interventionist foreign policy. “Biden should keep this in mind as he leaves the NATO Madrid summit and heads to the Middle East, where he may be tempted to make more security commitments in that troubled region.”
YouGov sampled 1,000 people, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
