President Joe Biden praised his own experience in foreign policy on Monday, saying it was the equal of anyone — including veteran diplomat Henry Kissinger.
“I’m going to say something outrageous. I think I know as much about American foreign policy as anybody living, including Dr. Kissinger,” said Biden at a fundraiser in Atherton, California.
“That’s what I’ve done my whole life, for the last 207 years,” Biden, the oldest US president in history at 80, added in a joke about his age.
Kissinger, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, served as the top US diplomat and national security adviser in the 1970s, serving Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and is the author of numerous books, including “On China” and “Diplomacy.”
Kissinger recently celebrated his 100th birthday. In an interview earlier this month with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, Kissinger said he believes military conflict between China and Taiwan is likely if tensions continue on their “current trajectory.”
“But I also think the current trajectory of relations must be altered,” he added.
Kissinger spoke days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Beijing, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit in five years.
Blinken wrapped up two days of meetings, including talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and said Monday he hoped the world’s two largest economies would have “better communications, better engagement going forward.”
Biden told reporters there had been progress in restoring US-China ties after the visit.
Biden made his comments about Kissinger at the home of venture capitalist Steve Westly and his wife Anita, during a fundraising trip to California as he ramps up his 2024 reelection bid. In his remarks, the president touted his foreign policy record, saying he had warned Kyiv that Russia would invade Ukraine and that Russian President Vladimir Putin wrongly thought NATO would fracture in the face of the invasion.
“If you notice, Putin was virtually certain when he invaded that he was going to split NATO,” Biden said. “NATO is more united than it’s ever been.”
Biden said one of the benefits of serving in office for such a long time was that he had been able to meet virtually every world leader. Before becoming vice president under Barack Obama, Biden represented Delaware in the Senate for over three decades, including stints as the chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
