President Joe Biden draws a stark contrast to his nemesis Donald Trump in Helsinki without having to mention his name by holding an event at the same venue where Trump appeared to side with Vladimir Putin.
Biden landed in Helsinki on Wednesday night after addressing a cheering crowd in Vilnius on a visit meant to welcome NATO’s newest member, whose move to the alliance was prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Hours earlier, Biden said in a speech that he had strengthened the military alliance and shot Putin.
In Helsinki, which is just 700 miles from the Russian border, he will appear in the same presidential palace with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö where Trump met Putin in 2018.
President Joe Biden’s visit to Helsinki contrasts with former President Donald Trump’s infamous 2018 visit
It was during that infamous meeting that Trump appeared to side with Russia over US intelligence amid Putin’s denials of meddling in the 2016 election.
“They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it should be,” Trump said when asked who he believed.
“I have a lot of faith in my intelligence people. But I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today, and what he made is an incredible offer,” Trump added.
His explosive language came days after a dozen Russians were charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Trump’s own intelligence chief, former Republican Senator Dan Coats, was forced to issue a statement underlining that “we have been clear in our assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
Trump appeared to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials of election interference during their 2018 appearance. The meeting took place four years after Russia invaded Crimea and four years before the massive invasion of Ukraine.
Biden received a thunderous applause from the Lithuanian public in the country’s capital, Vlinius
Biden will visit the presidential palace where Trump met Putin during the height of the Mueller investigation
Locals waved American and Ukrainian flags as they waited for the president to speak in Vilnius
The commander-in-chief made a veiled dig at his predecessor Donald Trump, lashing out at him for undermining Washington’s ties with its European allies.
It was at the same summit that Putin gave Trump a football that may have contained a transmitter chip.
With a war raging in Ukraine, Biden’s European trip gave him a chance to leave his re-election campaign behind and focus on transatlantic politics.
His speech in Vilnius included testimonials of unity and swipes at Putin, although the NATO summit opened with irate remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about not giving a timetable for his country’s invitation to join the alliance.
Biden also took a shrouded shot at Trump, who talked about withdrawing from NATO and harassed members for not following through on their pledges to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense.
“As president, I’ve been so focused on rebuilding and revitalizing alliances, the cornerstone of American leadership in recent years,” Biden said at meetings Wednesday.
“Russia could end this war tomorrow by withdrawing its troops from Ukraine” and “ceasing its inhumane attacks on women and children,” the 80-year-old Biden boomed during his speech.
Unfortunately, Russia has so far shown no interest in the diplomatic outcome. Putin still mistakenly believes he can survive Ukraine. He can’t believe it’s their country, their country and their future and even after all this time Putin still doubts our endurance. He’s still making a bad guess.
“When Russian bombs started falling, we didn’t hesitate to act. We called on the world to support the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and sovereignty,” he added.
Trump continues to attack Biden on social media from afar, during a week in which he suffered a setback when the Justice Department announced it would no longer defend him in prosecutor E. Jean Carrol’s defamation case of rape. The slams have echoes of his outbursts about the Mueller probe as it relates to his campaign’s dealings with Russia.
Crooked Joe Biden’s targeted, armed DOJ and FBI pose a serious threat to our democracy! They are doing the DIRTY WORK of Crooked attacking and prosecuting “TRUMP”, and they are only doing that because I CRUSHED DeSanctimonious and Biden in the polls. This is planned election interference of the highest order and used to only happen in third world countries. Now, sadly and horribly, it is happening here in America and it must be stopped if our country is to survive. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.