Washington (CNN) – US President Joe Biden will visit the State Department on Thursday to thank a workforce that was repeatedly vilified during the previous administration. He will also present his broad vision for a foreign policy based on multilateral alliances and institutions.
By making his first trip to a State Department cabinet office and not to the Pentagon or the CIA, Biden aims to underscore his administration’s renewed focus on re-establishing US alliances and using diplomacy as a tool abroad, said an official.
Vice President Kamala Harris will accompany Biden on the visit.
Biden is not expected to provide any concrete political direction in his address to America’s oldest cabinet office, which will focus on the theme of “restoring America’s place in the world,” one of his central campaign promises promises.
However, Biden is expected to announce his intention to increase the number of refugees admitted to the United States after years of record lows under the Trump administration, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN, fulfilling a campaign promise. .
The content and symbolism of its appearance is intended to convey unmistakable signals: that this government values diplomacy and its diplomats, will focus its foreign policy on working with allies and work to restore its reputation as an example country .
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that Biden’s visit, which was rescheduled earlier this week due to weather, “is mainly focused on his desire to thank the men and women who are officials of the foreign service,” officials, who are the heart and soul of that institution and, frankly, our government.
“Many of them have gone through a challenging few years,” he added.
Biden vs. Trump: The State Department’s Change of Course
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a longtime partner of Biden and a veteran of the Ministry, has sought to begin his tenure by stressing the importance of the State Department staff, whose expertise was often shunned and viewed with suspicion by a president which once called the agency “the Department of Deep State.”
Donald Trump visited the State Department only once every four years he was in office for a ceremonial event. During his initial impeachment trial, he repeatedly and publicly discredited one of his most respected diplomats, Marie Yovanovitch. Her secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, did not defend her publicly or vigorously, reinforcing the moral decline at the State Department.
Blinken promised to support his staff on his first full day as Secretary of State, a commitment that American diplomats said was necessary after years of defamation. However, they have also said that actions will speak louder than words and that it will take time to see exactly how the Biden government delivers on its promises and elevates the diplomatic corps.
Psaki, who was a spokesman for the State Department under the Obama administration, said Biden will “speak at length about foreign policy.”
How could he not when he is there? This is not a definition of your vision for every foreign policy issue. You have a lot of time for that, ”he said.
Biden’s Diplomatic Challenges
The president, his top diplomat and top officials have repeatedly emphasized that the most daunting challenges facing the United States, from the existential threat of climate change to the transnational threat of cyberattacks to mutual competition from an increasingly aggressive China, require allies to work together.
The government is now conducting a series of assessments of foreign policy challenges as it sets its own policies. However, Biden has indicated that he will try to frame his foreign policy around strengthening alliances and a return to multilateralism after Trump’s “America First” era.
Since taking office, Biden has spoken by phone with more than half a dozen foreign colleagues, while Blinken has worked extensively on the phone to communicate with colleagues around the world.
A source close to both men has said they are aware that after four years after the Trump administration, allies were wary and bruised, and unsure of how reliable an American ally will be in the future, serious repair work must be carried out.
“There is a real feeling among the Allies: ‘How long can we count on them?’” The source said. “We need to do something about that.”
– CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Jason Hoffman and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.