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Washington: Declaring “America is back,” President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his key national security and foreign policy officials and said the incoming administration is ready to lead the world and once again sit at the head of the table. Signaling a sharp shift from outgoing Republican President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy over the last four years, Biden said America is “ready to confront our adversaries, not reject our allies. And ready to stand up for our values.” Speaking from his transition center in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden, a Democrat, introduced his six top officials and highlighted the need to rebuild alliances, as well as tackling the corona virus pandemic and climate change.
World leaders, he said, were “looking forward to the United States reasserting its historic role as a global leader over the Pacific, as well as the Atlantic, all across the world.” Biden’s nominees and appointees, including Antony Blinken for secretary of state and former secretary of state John Kerry to a new position as special presidential envoy for climate, spoke for the first time since being announced on Monday by the transition team, and many of them offered implicit rebukes of President Trump and his isolationist and “America First” worldview. “The team meets this moment, this team behind me,” Biden said.
“They embody my core belief that America is strongest when it works with its allies,” he said. “That’s how we truly keep America safe without engaging in needless military conflicts, and our adversaries in check and terrorists at bay,” he said. “And it’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it. Once again, sit at the head of the table,” the 78-year-old, who is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20 as the 46th US President despite incumbent Trump not conceding, said.
“I’m pleased to have received the ascertainment from GSA to carry out a smooth and peaceful transition of power, so our teams can prepare to meet the challenges at hand, to control the pandemic, to build back better and to protect the safety and security of the American people,” he said. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will also be a member of Biden’s Cabinet, also spoke at the event.
