Politico: Biden to shift public focus from Ukraine to economy during election campaign
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U.S. President Joe Biden will focus on support of Ukraine less in his public display during the election campaign, Politico reported on May 2, citing undisclosed official sources close to the White House.
The U.S. will hold a presidential election in November, pinning incumbent Biden against the Republican candidate and former president, Donald Trump.
After Biden signed the $61 billion foreign aid bill, achieving a major foreign policy win, the president's team plans to make the U.S. commitment to Ukraine's fight against Russia less of a public focus and to address economic issues more, Politico wrote.
The democracy's cause will likely remain as a central component of Biden's campaign – tying together a range of topics from Ukraine to abortion, gun safety, education, and Trump – but White House and campaign aides do not expect a major public push to bolster support for Kyiv in the coming months, the outlet reported.
"Now that the supplemental passed Congress, it is naturally less of a salient issue," Politico wrote, citing one senior administration official.
Democrats and committed transatlanticists who back Biden believe that securing a second presidential term is the most crucial element to continue assisting Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Therefore, shifting the strategy to highlighting issues of more significant immediate concern for American voters could be more rewarding as of now.
Biden will still have a chance to address security matters during the campaign. According to Politico, the U.S. president is expected to come to France in June to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, likely drawing parallels to the current events in his speech.
Another big stage for Biden's potential statements on the war could be the NATO summit in Washington a month later, which will mark the organization's 75th anniversary.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that Ukraine hopes to continue working with Washington regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
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