Joe Biden plans to make two key speeches in his final days in office that will lay out the highlights of his legacy, shaped by more than half a century of public service.
NBC News reported this, citing sources familiar with the plans.
The first speech will focus on foreign policy and is expected to take place upon Biden’s return on January 12 from a trip to Italy. After that, he is scheduled to give a farewell speech, which will end his tenure in the White House.
According to sources familiar with the preparations, both speeches are not yet ready in their final form, but the main topics and directions have already been outlined.
In his farewell speech, Biden will likely offer a message to Americans for the future, reflecting on his long career, including four years as president. His remarks are expected to follow the tradition of predecessors such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who chose his hometown of Chicago as his final farewell. At one time, Trump, after his failure in the 2020 elections, released a pre-recorded video message the day before Biden’s inauguration.
Biden’s foreign policy speech, according to sources, will emphasize his belief that America is stronger when it develops its international alliances. He is likely to raise the topic of expanding and strengthening NATO, strengthening US relations with the Indo-Pacific region, and military and financial support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022. It is not yet known whether he will talk about relations with Israel in his speech.
It is unclear how much detail Biden will address the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in 2021 – it was widely criticized and was responsible for the deaths of 13 US troops.
It is also expected that Biden may mention efforts to combat terrorist threats, including ISIS, in his speech, but details of domestic terrorist threats, such as those following the New Year’s Eve attack in New Orleans, will not be covered in the speech.
The Biden administration is also considering additional steps to combat domestic radicalism – before he leaves office.
Biden will continue to be active in his remaining weeks in office. He plans to visit New Orleans to meet with relatives of victims of the recent attack and then travel to California to talk about his environmental work.
He will also travel to Rome and the Vatican on Thursday in what will likely be his last international trip as president.
Before leaving the White House on January 20, Biden will likely decide on additional pardons, which will primarily involve resentencing. However, a decision on pardoning those who may be targeted by the new Trump administration has not yet been made, the sources said.
Let’s remember that Cursor wrote that the United States was stunned to learn about the scale of explosives that were planned to be used in the deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans last week.