- The president will address the nation from the White House at 8 p.m
- He just returned from his seven-hour trip to Israel
- He is seeking additional funds for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the border
President Joe Biden will address the nation from the White House on Thursday evening as he asks Congress for $100 billion to strengthen US allies Israel and Ukraine at a time of global unrest.
The president just returned from his seven-hour trip to Israel, where he showed support for the US ally and hugged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but did not get a chance to sit down with the heads of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority . after a hospital explosion in Gaza.
Israel has massed thousands of troops on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground attack, as the Israeli army pounded Hezbollah targets across the border in Lebanon on Thursday.
Biden has bluntly warned opponents who might try to exploit the region’s unrest, simply telling them “don’t do that.” He faces contradictory cross-pressure, repeatedly demonstrating that he has Israel’s “back” and deploying a naval and air armada in the region, while Arab citizens have taken to the streets in protest against Israel even after the bloody Hamas attacks of October 7.
President Joe Biden will address the nation Thursday evening at 8 p.m. amid global unrest. He asks Congress for money to help both Israel and Ukraine
Biden pressed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during a phone call on Wednesday to open the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza, but Netanyahu is resisting calls to allow deliveries from Israel. He first demands visits and the return of the hostages seized by Hamas during the lightning attack, while there is virtually no information about the status of about 200 prisoners, including a small number of American citizens.
To have the security impact he wants, Biden needs to get a relief package through Congress — with half of the Capitol unable to even organize after Republicans repeatedly fail to come together to elect a president, while his own approval ratings at home remain low. on the eve of an election year.
Biden’s speech will be intended “to discuss our response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks on Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine,” according to a brief statement from the White House.
That comes after the White House made a strategic decision to combine funds for both conflicts in a single passage, following growing Republican opposition in the House of Representatives to aid to Ukraine that undermined his previous $24 billion package for that conflict. stood away.
Now the administration is about to ask Congress for $100 billion to strengthen Israel, provide weapons and aid to Ukraine, help Taiwan strengthen itself as it faces a possible invasion from China, and fortify its border .
Biden’s trip to Israel got off to a rocky start after the explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital
The Israeli army claims it has carried out rocket attacks on Hezbollah military targets on the border with Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
Republicans have demanded action at the border, pointing to chaos there and daily crossings reaching 10,000 people during peaks. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) told DailyMail.com that the package will include border funding as well as perhaps policy provisions.
But Senate Republicans may not care about the administration’s spending ideas. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) complained that the administration was planning to send money to “sanctuary cities” — Democratic enclaves where GOP governors have bused and airlifted migrants.
The stakes are high for Biden, who is essentially tied in the polls with former President Donald Trump even as Trump faces four criminal charges.
“The @potus stands ready to make a major deal tonight on a range of urgent needs: aid to Israel; Ukraine; and border security/disaster relief here at home. And he will almost certainly challenge Congress to FINALLY take action to address this problem,” said David Axelrod, former top adviser to President Barack Obama, on the X Platform.
That comes after two more failed attempts by House Republicans to elect a speaker, this time involving Biden foe Rep. Jim Jordan faced opposition from 22 of his GOP colleagues. He is playing a leading role in the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry into the president.
Biden’s speech comes at a time of attacks on US embassies, sectarian attacks around the world, including a firebomb attack on a synagogue in Berlin on Wednesday, and fears of an extended war in the Middle East that Iran could engulf.
It came in a week when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China amid information that Hamas terrorists were relying on rocket-propelled grenades supplied by North Korea.
Amid the unrest, the US State Department has issued a ‘Worldwide Caution Security Alert’. It advised US citizens abroad to ‘be extra careful due to the potential for violence and increased tensions in various locations around the world.”