While Joe Biden was spending the night in London, where he attended Elizabeth II’s funeral, the US network CBS broadcast the first interview that the US president has granted since February. In it, he spoke for the first time about the retention by his predecessor, Donald Trump, of secret documents in his Mar-a-Lago mansion, calling his actions “totally irresponsible.” Biden also said that he intends to run for re-election, but that he remains to see what the final decision is. And he assured that US troops would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack, distancing himself from the policy of strategic ambiguity that Washington maintains as official doctrine.
In an interview for the show 60 minutes Recorded last Thursday, journalist Scott Pelley asked him what he thought when he saw the photograph of the secret documents seized in the Mar-a-Lago registry. Biden has replied: “How can that happen? How can someone be so irresponsible? And I thought: what data was there that could compromise the sources and methods? I mean the names of the people who helped… And it just… is totally irresponsible.”
Biden assures that no one has informed him of what documents were found and what potential risks to national security they implied. “I haven’t asked for the details of those documents because I don’t want to get into whether or not the Justice Department should proceed with certain actions that they might take,” she explained.
In another passage of the interview, Biden refers to the relationship with China. This was the exchange:
“Would US forces defend the island?” Pelley asked.
“Yes, if indeed there was an unprecedented attack,” Biden replied.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
“So, unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir, would American forces, American men and women, defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?”
“Yes,” assured the president.
Already last May, Biden spoke in this regard on a tour of Asia and he held the same in October of last year. The White House and the State Department, however, assure that this does not mean abandoning the doctrine of “strategic ambiguity” by which it does not finish defining itself with respect to its response to a possible Chinese attack.
In an excerpt from the interview that had already been previewed, Biden also warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the use of chemical or nuclear weapons in response to his battlefield defeats in the Ukraine war would have “consequences ”, although without clarifying which ones.
re-election
Pelley also asked Biden if he had made up his mind to run for re-election in 2024. “Look, if I told you, I’m going to run again, all of a sudden a whole series of things come into play that I have… requirements that I have to change and move and do, in terms of electoral laws”, Biden replied, since the candidates are subject to a whole series of requirements and controls on the financing of their campaigns, something that weighs on the fact that Trump does not make his intentions official either. And he has continued: “It is too early to make that kind of decision. I am a great respecter of destiny. And therefore what I am doing is my job. I’m going to do that job. And within the time frame that makes sense after this next election cycle here, going into next year, make a decision about what to do,” he added.
The president has also referred to inflation and the economy. He has said that he expects a soft landing and that the economy does not get worse. He has highlighted job creation.
And, regarding the health crisis, he said: “We still have a problem with covid. We are still working a lot on it. But the pandemic is over.” Biden points out that “no one is wearing masks” and that “everyone seems to be in good shape.”
Follow all the international information in Facebook Y Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
#Biden #secret #Trump #documents #irresponsible