Biden officials trying to ‘Trump-proof’ Democrat’s foreign policy

After a sweeping victory by President-elect Donald Trump in Tuesday’s elections, administration officials are scrambling to figure out how they can protect President Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy.

Trump beat out Vice President Kamala Harris in a stunning landslide on Tuesday, garnering at least a 292-224 margin in the electoral vote and millions more than Harris in the popular vote, according to multiple reports as of Wednesday afternoon. With the prospect of a second Trump administration looming, Biden officials are debating how to stop Trump from significantly altering Biden’s foreign policy initiatives, according to several sources who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity.

That could include flooding Ukraine with more aid from the U.S. or imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, along with a host of other options, according to Politico.

But there might not be much they can do. As president, Trump will have sweeping executive authority and could likely undo most moves made by Biden officials between now and January. Trump has already vowed to reverse a number of Biden’s initiatives when he takes office.

And assuming Republicans keep the House of Representatives — as they have already taken back the Senate from Democrats in Tuesday’s elections — Trump will likely have the broad support of both chambers of Congress behind him.

“You really can’t ‘Trump-proof,’” one official told Politico. “You can ‘Trump delay,’ you can throw sand in the gears, but there is no way short of legislation to ‘Trump-proof.’”

Biden’s approach to Ukraine has done little to shift the tides in Kyiv’s favor, despite unwavering support and billions of dollars in U.S. aid. Biden officials have the option of tapping the remaining $6 billion in congressionally approved weapon stockpiles to send to Ukraine, but that could take months.

Besides, Trump could decide to halt the shipment of those weapons once he takes office. Trump has promised to end the war between Russia and Ukraine by the time he takes office — citing his ability to negotiate with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin — which would likely involve some sort of peace settlement.

“We are realistic about the limits of our power and the breadth and scope of the power that Donald Trump will inherit on day one,” the official told Politico.

Trump did succeed in “Biden-proofing” some of his foreign policy initiatives before he left office in 2021, according to Politico. That included denouncing China’s oppression of religious minorities in the mainland’s Xinjiang province as “genocide” and labeling Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Biden’s team chose not to alter those policies because it would have been politically unfavorable to do so, according to Politico.

“[Trump officials] were bold and ambitious and willing to take risks. We were not,” the U.S. official told Politico. “We could have overturned everything they did on day one.”

Biden and those in his orbit have routinely praised their competency in maneuvering geopolitics and foreign policy, but critics have argued that it has only left the world in a more turbulent place on the world stage. Two global wars in Europe and the Middle East have broken out under Biden’s tenure, and his officials have been virtually incapable of steering those conflicts one way or the other.

Biden will also leave office having been responsible for the disastrous 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, which ended in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and put the U.S. on a losing foot trying to leave the 20-year war in the Middle East.

The State Department and White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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