Sunday, 19 July 2020
Who do world leaders want: Trump or Biden?
The Russians may try to intervene in the US election again to get Trump back in, but for the rest of the world community, the national leaderfs must now be asking themselves, who do they want in the White House in the next four years: four more years of Trump or start planning for a Biden administration? I would say it's pretty clear Vladimir Putin would not want Biden as US president because he thinks, rightly or wrongly, that he and Trump are more of a kind. President Xi Zinping might possibly prefer to keep with Trump because, at least in the early stages of his administration, Trump seemed eager to foster good personal relations with the Beijing leader. Things have gone sour more recently, very sour since the coronavirus pandemic which started in Wuhan. But Biden has accused Trump of not being tough enough on China. So, yes, President Xi is probably hoping/expecting Trump to win the election in November. Biden is more of an unknown quantity, and that's less helpful when planning Chinese strategy over the next few years. As for Europe, I would guess the majority of leaders have had enough of Trump and would welcome a new man who is at least pro-European and friendly and more predictable. There are probably exceptions. Boris Johnson has a good relationship with Trump and with the priority soon to be focusing on getting a post-Brexit trade deal with the US, he must be thinking he has a better chance of winning something beneficial for the UK with Trump at the helm. Also Boris and Biden as soulmates? I don't think so. Macron and Merkel will want Biden without question. The reelected Polish president is a Trump man, and probably Hungary, too. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy etc might be happier with Biden but they will be playing a very careful game to avoid looking like they support either. Around the world, Kim Jong-un will want Trump, despite the current frostiness, Iran will go for Biden, hoping for a reawakening of the Obama nuclear deal, Australia, probably Trump, India, Pakistan, the whole of Asia, also probably Trump. So a divided world as well as a divided United States of America. That's Trump for you.
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