Tag Archive for: president joe biden

Biden Admin Seeks Long-Term Ukraine Aid Plan To Prevent Next President From Scaling Back Funding

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The Biden administration is seeking to hammer out a long-term Ukraine aid agreement with European allies in hopes of both preventing Russia from gaining an edge on the battlefield and hamstringing a future president’s ability to scale back U.S. commitments, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The scheme emerged during sideline talks among Group of Seven leaders at a NATO summit in July, and so far involves negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine, and between the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Ukraine, according to the WSJ. It’s an attempt, in part, to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin he can simply wait until a new American administration, as several top GOP political contenders have expressed intention to reduce or eliminate U.S. aid that makes up the brunt of Western support.

Building up Kyiv’s defense forces in the long term can theoretically deter Russia from invading again, officials calculated, according to the WSJ.

Former President Donald Trump has maintained a lead in Republican primary candidate polling and could face a second showdown with President Joe Biden in the 2024 election. Trump has claimed he could solve the war “within 24 hours.”

At the first Republican primary debate Wednesday, several candidates indicated they would support drawing down aid for Ukraine.

Eighteen countries not belonging to the G-7 wealthy democracies, including the Netherlands and Sweden, have also agreed to the long-term security assistance pledge for Ukraine, according to the WSJ.

European capitals want to cement support and restrict ways countries could renege on pledges, fearing what might happen during a second Trump administration, according to the WSJ. At present, Western European nations lack the industrial and financial capacity to match the billions in annual military aid provided by the U.S.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. has devoted more than $40 billion worth of weapons and equipment, as well as training and investment into U.S. weapons companies, for the purpose of aiding Ukraine’s resistance. The aid has exposed weaknesses in American military readiness and industrial base capacity, provoking criticism that the U.S. should be using those funds to shore up defenses with an eye toward China as the war in Ukraine drags on with no end in sight.

However, the practical workings of the agreement pose significant hurdles to the Biden administration’s goals, the WSJ reported, citing officials. A sitting president has limited ability to bind his successor to any initiative or policy.

The State Department led the first U.S. meeting on the initiative on Aug. 3, involving Ukrainian officials and representatives from the White House and the Pentagon, according to the WSJ. U.S. officials hope to convene a second meeting soon.

France expects to begin negotiations in the coming weeks, a senior French official told the WSJ.

“Our bilateral security commitments will focus on ensuring Ukraine has a sustainable force capable of defending Ukraine now and deterring Russian aggression in the future,” the State Department told the WSJ.

So far, no party has yet decided what the agreement will actually look like, according to the WSJ.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Investigative reporter, defense.

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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘Lawless’: DeSantis Declares State Of Emergency, Activates National Guard Over Wave Of Migrant Arrivals

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Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Friday, activating the National Guard to help with an influx of migrants arriving by boat on Florida’s coast.

In response to the Biden administration’s alleged inability to manage a record number of migrants attempting to cross the southern border into the U.S. and anticipating a wave of migrant arrivals, DeSantis authorized state agencies to take emergency response measures  Jan. 6, according to the order. The governor also authorized the National Guard to deploy “as needed, to deal with this emergency,” given that “the migration of unauthorized aliens to the State of Florida is likely to constitute a major disaster.”

“The lawlessness at the Southwest Border continues unabated and the Biden Administration has repeatedly demonstrated its ineptitude at managing the crisis it created,” the order stated. As a result, an increasing number of illegal migrants are seeking entry to the U.S.

At least 345 unauthorized persons entered Florida on Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, and the state has identified multiple vessels likely to contain illegal migrants destined for Florida’s shores, the order stated. From August 2022 to January 2023, officials indicted more than 8,000 migrants in the waters around Florida’s peninsula.

Customs and Border Patrol has logged a record number of migrant encounters at all U.S. borders in the first two months of fiscal year 2023, which began in October, including 460,000 at the southern border alone.

Nearly 500 illegal migrants docked in the Florida Keys over New Year’s weekend, forcing a park in the region to shut down as Florida law enforcement struggled to apprehend all of the arrivals. Border Patrol reportedly told local police they did not have sufficient federal resources to respond, according to a Facebook post by Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay’s office.

Ramsay’s office described the incident as a “federal failure.”

Biden is set to make his first visit to the southern border since becoming president in January 2021 before traveling to Mexico to attend the North American Leaders’ Summit. The border visit will likely include a stop in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, where Democratic El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared an emergency authorizing use of additional resources to help with migrants sleeping on the streets.

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.