Joe Biden, Donald Trump, NATO Summit: Slips of Tongue Happen: Allies Support Gaffing Biden

Washington:

Everything was going according to plan. President Joe Biden was projecting himself as the leader of the free world by organizing a NATO summit and then, at one point, there was an embarrassing slip of the tongue.

With Biden struggling to convince many Americans that he remains fit for office, NATO leaders have offered him votes of confidence, albeit delicately, at least in part out of fear of another Donald Trump presidency.

Biden was wrapping up the three-day NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington by strongly promising that “Ukraine will prevail” against Russian President Vladimir Putin and saluting the courage of Ukraine’s iconic wartime leader, Voldymyr Zelensky.

Turning to Zelensky in his battle uniform, Joe Biden said: “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”

Biden quickly corrected himself and Zelensky, a former comedian, promptly made light of the gaffe, saying, “I’m better than Putin.”

But the momentary lapse quickly revived memories of his debate two weeks earlier against Trump – he failed in his own task of reassuring the public that he still had his wits about him.

Biden ‘in charge’

Whether motivated by direct observation, fear of Donald Trump’s return or a simple reluctance to offend his host, no leader has openly questioned the competence of Biden, who at 81 is six years older than the alliance itself.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke at length with Biden at a dinner for leaders at the White House.

“I saw, as always, a president who is in charge, clear on the issues he knows well,” said Macron.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz similarly said that Biden “has demonstrated leadership for our common alliance.”

“Slips of tongue happen, and if you keep an eye on everyone, you’ll find enough,” Scholz said.

New U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said allegations of senility against Biden were misplaced and that the two allies covered extensive ground for nearly an hour in the Oval Office, longer than expected.

“We did it at a rapid pace. He was in good form,” Starmer, whose Labor Party defeated the Conservatives last week and has no sympathy for Trump, told British media before the summit gaffe.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has forged close ties with Trump but appreciated Biden’s support for Ukraine, told journalists: “I spoke with President Biden and there is no doubt that everything is fine.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, asked if he had concerns about the United States, said that in democracies there is “always turbulence before elections”.

“I have absolutely no concerns about the ability of the current president of the United States to lead his country and to lead our fight for Ukraine and to lead NATO,” he said.

“The only thing that concerns me is that the political climate in the United States right now is too toxic, too polarized, and that doesn’t leave enough space for a civilized and constructive debate” about politics, he told reporters.

Many NATO leaders privately fear a victory in November for Trump, who has vehemently criticized the alliance, with its promise of collective defense, as an unfair burden on the United States.

Trump’s aides have reflected on conditioning aid to Ukraine on forcing Kiev to hand over territory and reach a quick deal to end the war, which they see as a distraction from a larger challenge from China.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, although she said she would not comment on the US elections, stressed that the United States and Europe would remain united regardless of who won the elections.

“You saved us once,” she said of the United States. “Please keep this way of working.”

One dissenting voice in NATO has been Hungary’s populist prime minister, Viktor Orban.

He traveled to Russia and China, as well as Ukraine, before the NATO summit and, after it ended, headed to Florida to see Trump.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)