All eyes on Joe Biden during tonight's celebration

 

Joe Biden
All eyes on Joe Biden as NATO celebrates 75

 

Niclas Vent

Published 2024-07-09 22.07

 

WASHINGTON. The summit was rigged as a triumphal tour.

When Joe Biden receives the world leaders in Washington this evening, his future - and that of NATO - is at stake.

Aftonbladet is one of the few media on site inside the Mellon Auditorium to follow how things are going.

 

Everything was perfect.

75 years after . NATO was founded, the alliance's leaders were to gather for a summit in Washington, the city where the North Atlantic Treaty was once signed.

With a presidential election right around the corner, US President Joe Biden would have the chance to appear exactly as he wants:

 
As the undisputed leader of the free world, a president who gives America strength, influence and prestige – in stark contrast to challenger Donald Trump.

 

“See what they have to say”

There's a lot he'd probably like to brag about. The agreement on support for Ukraine has largely held. Sanctions against Russia have been put in place. With the addition of Sweden and Finland, the alliance has become larger than ever.

The NATO meeting would be "a good way to judge me," Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC on Friday:

- Come and listen. See what they have to say.

- Who could hold NATO together like me?

 

 Biden, wife Jill and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in the Mellon Auditorium in Washington. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
 

Health in focus

But instead of Biden's political successes, it is after the latest debate against Donald Trump that his own health is in focus.

The media in the US is completely dominated by questions about Biden's future. All statements by Democrats in Congress are scrutinized in search of criticism of or support for Biden.

Late yesterday evening, Swedish time, the world leaders gathered in the Mellon Auditorium in Washington to celebrate NATO's 75 years as a defense alliance, and to listen to the president give a speech.

Biden gives Jens Stoltenberg the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Photo: Susan Walsh/AP

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his wife Birgitta Ed sat in the front row, right next to Jill and Joe Biden. Ulf Kristersson had previously been given a place of honor next to Joe Biden and Jens Stoltenberg when all the alliance leaders posed for a group photo.

They got to see a president who cleared the first hurdle.

Joe Biden spoke with a strong voice, and largely without stuttering.

Unlike the debate against Donald Trump, however, this was about a prepared speech, moreover, on a subject the president both knows well and feels a lot about.

His critics are probably still hoping that the rare press conference he is expected to hold on Thursday will be a different story.

Ulf Kristersson and Birgitta Ed in Washington. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP