Former U.S. President Joe Biden has sharply criticized his successor Donald Trump over a tense Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year, calling the episode “beneath America” and a symbol of waning U.S. global leadership.
In his first broadcast interview since leaving office in January, Biden told the BBC that the public confrontation between Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Zelenskyy in February revealed a troubling shift in American foreign policy rhetoric and behavior.
“I found it beneath America in the way that took place,” Biden said, referencing reports of a heated exchange in which Trump berated Zelenskyy over what he described as a lack of gratitude for U.S. aid. “The way we talk about now that ‘this is the Gulf of America,’ ‘maybe we’re going to have to take back Panama,’ ‘maybe we need to acquire Greenland’ … what the hell’s going on here?”
He added: “What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are.”
The February meeting, which failed to produce a formal agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine, was later followed by a brief encounter between the two leaders at the funeral of Pope Francis. Despite the fallout, the two countries have since reached a deal on critical minerals cooperation.
Biden, who championed support for Ukraine during his presidency, condemned Trump’s approach as “modern-day appeasement” in the face of Russian aggression.
“Listen to what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said when he talked about going from Kyiv into Ukraine. And why. He believes it’s part of mother Russia,” Biden said.
With the United States showing signs of retreat from its traditional role as a guarantor of European security, Biden expressed alarm about the future of the NATO alliance, calling it a matter of “grave concern.”
“It would change the modern history of the world if that occurs,” he warned.
Biden also pushed back against arguments from Vice President Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who have questioned U.S. defense subsidies to European allies.
“They don’t have a point,” Biden said. “When we were attacked, what happened on 9/11? They all responded and supported us.”
The interview marks Biden’s return to the political spotlight amid a volatile international landscape and growing questions over the direction of U.S. foreign policy in the Trump-Vance administration.
