Biden heads to Germany for swan-song trip as US election looms

U.S. President Joe Biden will look to use his brief visit to Germany to cement cooperation with a key partner that’s been in lockstep on supporting Ukraine and his efforts to cultivate ties with allies.

Less than three weeks before the U.S. election, Biden’s foray abroad is a bid to strengthen the transatlantic relationship and double down on assistance to war-torn Ukraine as winter approaches and the conflict remains deadlocked.

Biden will announce a new dialogue focused on aligning private investment with emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, a senior U.S. official told reporters, requesting anonymity to discuss the trip. Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also announce a new exchange program that builds on their countries’ commitment to democratic values.

The visit is aimed at reassuring a key European ally after the original trip — more ambitious in its agenda — was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. A second leg to Angola to bolster ties on the African continent was also postponed to December.

Biden spoke Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom he was supposed to meet in Germany last week, and unveiled an additional $425 million military aid package for Kyiv that includes additional air defense capability, air-to-ground munitions and armored vehicles. Biden also outlined support he plans to provide over the coming months.

The White House said Biden will host a virtual leader-level meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in November to coordinate with international partners on additional assistance.

The trip will be Biden’s first overseas since announcing he wouldn’t seek reelection, with a razor-close presidential contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump looming over the discussions.

Trump has made Germany a frequent target, charging this week that “they get away with murder” — a reference to car companies that assemble vehicles in the U.S. but import many parts from Germany, and threatening high tariffs on such firms. Trump also has vowed to quickly resolve the war by getting Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a settlement.

The one-day trip to the German capital is something of a swan song for Biden, who has devoted much of his five decades in public service to the transatlantic alliance. He’s been at pains to bolster NATO and counter skepticism from Trump that European allies don’t pull their weight in defense spending.

Biden arrives Thursday evening and is scheduled to meet Scholz midday Friday. The two leaders will then be joined by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron for a meeting of the transatlantic Quad to discuss Russia’s war and the broadening conflict in the Middle East, the U.S. official said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday will present the country’s highest civilian honor to Biden, making him the first U.S. leader to receive the award since George H. W. Bush.

U.S. officials say Biden has formed an especially strong bond with his German counterpart. Scholz is more of a technocrat while Biden is more gregarious, but they hit it off from the beginning, according to aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Biden sees Scholz as an honest broker, focused on getting things done, aides say. Their world views are almost fully aligned — with economic policy and China being points of tension — and they’ve overcome major hurdles together.

Under pressure from Biden, Germany canceled the Nord Stream 2 pipeline shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, and at Scholz’s insistence, the U.S. provided tanks — and political cover — for Germany to send its own vehicles to Kyiv.

The relationship’s most significant moment was perhaps the highly complex prisoner swap with Moscow, in which Germany’s release of Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian killer serving a life sentence, was critical.

Biden and Scholz have both pushed allies to support Ukraine’s defense, while also hesitating to provide Zelenskiy with capabilities Putin warns would cross a red line.

China, Trade

There remain hiccups in the relationship, such as China, where the U.S. is willing to pursue a more aggressive policy. U.S. officials say Berlin has largely come around to Washington’s view on China, with the Biden administration highlighting sanctions they’ve imposed on Beijing for supporting Russia’s war machine.

Another sore spot is Biden’s economic and trade policy, which fits more in the mold of Trump’s agenda than that of former President Barack Obama.

Senior German officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have derided Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act as a surprise punch, citing “Buy America” provisions that hit German manufacturers right when the country’s economy was struggling under rising energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bernd Westphal, a senior lawmaker from Scholz’s Social Democratic Party who sits on the parliamentary economic affairs committee, said the partnership is “on the same eye-level,” but acknowledged stubborn differences on trade policy.

“This has largely to do with the fact that the German economy is much more intertwined with China,” he said.

“Biden’s economic policies are to some extent problematic for Europeans,” he added. “Then again, one cannot fault Biden for trying to strengthen the U.S. economy.”