Former President Joe Biden raised eyebrows this week when he claimed that multiple European leaders are privately urging him to “get engaged” in international affairs amid growing unease over President Donald Trump’s bold foreign policy moves.
Speaking at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference in San Diego, Biden focused much of his speech on NATO, international cooperation, and the unraveling of what he described as his administration’s “hard-won progress.”
“I’m getting calls — I’m not going to go into it, I can’t — from a number of European leaders asking me to get engaged,” Biden told the audience.
Though he avoided naming President Trump directly, Biden’s remarks were peppered with implied criticism—especially regarding Trump’s shake-up of NATO.
Earlier this month, Trump secured a landmark agreement at the NATO summit that raised the defense spending target to 5% of GDP. Calling it a “monumental win,” Trump said the $1 trillion pledge was long overdue.
Biden, meanwhile, lamented what he sees as a rapid reversal of his legacy:
“Many of the things I worked so damn hard [on] that I thought I changed… are changing so rapidly.”
He also noted that he’s not formally involved in policy, but continues to provide “advice” to global leaders and U.S. lawmakers alike.
“I’m also dealing with a lot of Democrats and Republican colleagues calling me… just to bounce things off [me],” he added.
