Joe Biden has said his administration will strengthen the US role as a leader "across the world." At an event unveiling his national security team, the president-elect also stressed his commitment to global cooperation.
Image: picture-alliance/J. Schwenkenbecher
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President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States under his leadership will reaffirm its commitments to its allies.
At a ceremony in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden unveiled his national security team, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state and John Kerry as climate envoy. The president-elect said his team embodied his core belief "that America is strongest when it works with its allies."
"It's a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it," he said on stage, with his administration staff selections wearing masks and standing six feet apart.
The foreign policy strategy marks a stark contrast from the more antagonistic "America First" approach taken by Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, who was often at odds with traditional allies across the world, particularly in Europe.
Biden noted that in his calls with foreign leaders, they expressed "how much they're looking forward to the United States reasserting its historic role as a global leader over the Pacific, as well as the Atlantic, across the world."
Blinken said the Biden administration was committed to global cooperation and partnershipsImage: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Blinken, a longtime Biden confidante and former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, vowed the US would seek global cooperation in its foreign policy.
"We have to proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence," Blinken said. "As the president-elect said, we can't solve all the world's problems alone."
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Rebuilding alliances, addressing climate change
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said that in addition to repairing diplomatic relationships that suffered under the Trump administration, the US was committed to tackling climate change.
"We will need to reassemble and renew America's alliances, rebuild and strengthen the national security and foreign policy institutions that keep us safe, and advance our nation's interests, and confront and combat the existential threat of climate change that endangers us all," she said.
John Kerry, who served as secretary of state under Barack Obama, praised Biden's commitment to rejoin the Paris Climate agreement on the first day of his presidency, and also called for a UN conference in Glasgow to raise ambitions for curbing global warming.
"You're right to rejoin Paris on day one. And you're right to recognize that Paris alone is not enough," Kerry said.
In addition to Blinken and Kerry, Biden also named Obama White House alum Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador and lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security. Avril Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA, was tapped to be director of national intelligence.
"I want to say to you: America is back. Multilateralism is back. Diplomacy is back," Thomas-Greenfield said.
Biden is due to take office on January 20. Aside from Kerry and Sullivan, his national security team picks unveiled on Tuesday will require Senate confirmation.
Who are Joe Biden's presidential Cabinet picks?
President-elect Joe Biden has begun announcing Cabinet positions as he prepares to take over the White House. Most picks thus far served under President Barack Obama. The US Senate must confirm most of these nominees.
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Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
Blinken is a longtime confidant of President-elect Joe Biden. He's served under two Democratic presidents as well as a key aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also served as a deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of state in the second Obama administration, when Biden was vice president.
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General Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary
Austin was a controversial pick — his long career as a military officer requires a Congressional waiver before he can be confirmed. Austin held a series of prominent roles in the US Army and worked with Obama during the US withdrawal from Iraq. If successful, he would be the first Black Pentagon chief.
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Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary
Biden's nominee for the top position — the first woman ever if confirmed — goes some way towards fulfilling his promise to select a diverse cabinet. Yellen served on the policymaking committee of the Federal Reserve during the 2008 financial crisis and advised Bill Clinton. She would be taking the reigns during one of the worst economic crises in US history.
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Ron Klain, Chief of Staff
A veteran of Washington DC, Klain was an early pick for Biden. As White House chief of staff, he will work closely with the president, setting his agenda and coordinating the levers of power. Klain worked with Biden before when he was vice president as well as serving directly under former President Barack Obama as the Ebola Czar.
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Xavier Becerra, Health Secretary
The California Attorney General was picked to head up the health department under Biden's incoming cabinet during a global health crisis that has hit the US particularly hard. Becerra also helped in passing the Affordable Care Act when he sat in Congress. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Latino appointed to the role.
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John Kerry, climate change envoy
The former secretary of state will become Biden's special presidential envoy for climate. Kerry served as a senator from Massachusetts from 1983 to 2013 before taking the top foreign policy role in the second Obama administration. Kerry signed the Paris Climate Agreement for the United States in 2015 — Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord two years later.
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Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN
Thomas-Greenfield served in high-level State Department positions under Obama from 2013 to 2017. She led US policy in sub-Saharan African during the Ebola outbreak. Biden plans to restore the UN ambassador role to a White House Cabinet position.
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Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
The Cuban-American headed Citizenship and Immigration Services under Obama. He led the implementation of the DACA program that allowed so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the US illegally as children, to stay in the country. If confirmed, he would become the first immigrant and Hispanic to head the Department of Homeland Security.
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Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser
Sullivan served as Biden's national security adviser from 2013 to 2014 while he was vice president. He also served as Hillary Clinton's deputy when she was Secretary of State. He later served as her chief foreign policy adviser during her unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016.
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Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
Haines was the first woman to serve as deputy director of the CIA, a role she held from 2013 to 2015. She succeeded Antony Blinken as deputy national security adviser when he moved over to the state department in 2015. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to head the US intelligence community.
