“Given the projected trajectory and strength of Hurricane Milton, President Biden is postponing his upcoming trip to Germany and Angola in order to oversee preparations for and the response to Hurricane Milton, in addition to the ongoing response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the Southeast,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced in a written statement Tuesday.
The statement comes ahead of Biden’s expected remarks this morning on Hurricane Milton's anticipated impact and ongoing recovery efforts for Helene.
Biden’s team had been closely monitoring the storm as the trip approached, with a decision looming on whether to cancel. With just weeks left until Election Day, the politics of managing the storm recovery – with Republicans already having seized on the Biden administration's handling of Helene – had become a serious flashpoint.
There have not yet been any discussions in earnest about when the postponed trip would be rescheduled, another White House official said, CNN reported.
All presidents at some point face decisions on canceling foreign travel to tend to matters at home. Trump himself canceled a visit to Poland in 2019 several days before Hurricane Dorian made landfall in Florida. But those decisions come with costs, in the form of missed opportunities and sore feelings for countries eager for a visit from the American president.
This week in Germany, Biden was scheduled for a state visit in Berlin – his first as president – on Friday. Biden was also planning to travel afterward to Angola, making good on a promise he made several years ago to visit sub-Saharan Africa as president.
MA/PR
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