Joe Biden to Global Allies: “America is Back,” But Back to What?

President Biden on Friday hailed the importance of the alliance between the U.S. and Europe, while also taking a number of thinly-veiled shots at his predecessor.

"I'm sending a clear message to the world, America is back, the transatlantic alliance is back and we’re not looking backward, we’re looking forward together," he said in a virtual address to the annual Munich Security Conference.

"The partnership between Europe and the United States in my view is and must remain the cornerstone of all we hope to accomplish in the 21st century just as we did in the 20th century," he said.

In the address, Biden reasserted that his administration is pausing Trump-era troop withdrawals from Germany and lifting the cap on the number of U.S. forces that can be based in Germany.

Biden has sought to reach out to repair what his administration sees as damaged alliances left behind by the Trump administration -- whose "America First" approach grated on allies at times. Biden has pledged to re-enter international agreements and institutions such as the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.

On climate change he declared, "We can no longer do the bare minimum to address climate change -- this is a global existential crisis."

The Daily Wire with more on the end of "America First:"

President Biden told leaders at the G-7 summit on Friday, the same day the U.S. reentered the Paris Agreement, that the days of “America First” diplomacy championed by former President Trump were over, according to The New York Times.

As the New York Post, which cited Biden’s intent to declare on Friday that the “America First” era was over, noted, “Biden has swiftly dismantled Trump’s foreign policy agenda, which saw the U.S. withdraw from the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump believed were against the nation’s interests.”

One official told the Post, “Now he will get the opportunity as president of the United States early in his term to declare that America is back and the trans-Atlantic alliance is back. He will look forward to driving home the core proposition that the trans-Atlantic alliance is a cornerstone for American engagement in the world in the 21st century, just as it was in the 20th.”

Biden claimed, “America is back, the trans-Atlantic alliance is back … we are not looking backward.” He stated, “We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of history. We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people in this changed world. That is our galvanizing mission. Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it. Strengthen it. Renew it.”