Washington
UJ
—
Nearly a month has passed since Joe Biden vacated the White House, yet he continues to linger prominently in Donald Trump’s thoughts.
Since reclaiming power, Trump has consistently turned Biden into both a target and a source of humor in his public appearances. With the Republicans firmly in control of Washington, Trump is always on the lookout for a rival, and Biden appears at the top of his list.
“A lot of this is Biden’s doing,” Trump remarked last week in the Oval Office, making reference to federal teleworking policies. “It’s his responsibility.”
For Trump, accountability lands squarely on Biden’s shoulders – never his own. This reflects a new twist on Harry Truman’s famous desk sign, “The Buck Stops Here,” which has served as a guiding principle for many presidents since.
The array of difficulties Trump and his team attribute to Biden is extensive: soaring egg prices, an airline disaster in the Potomac, FEMA’s disaster relief failures, ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, the surge of terrorism in Somalia, growing U.S. trade deficits, and strained relations with Beijing.
“I consider Biden to be incompetent,” Trump stated, pointing fingers at his predecessor eight times last Thursday while blaming him for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “I thought saying they could join NATO was incredibly foolish.”
While issues during any presidency are intertwined, Biden’s situation is particularly unique as his term sits between Trump’s two presidencies. Upon taking office, Biden consciously avoided mentioning Trump, a practice he gradually abandoned.
For years, aides note, Biden has remained a distinctive presence in Trump’s psyche—a continual adversary that Trump could not best at the polls. Trump takes pleasure in depicting Biden as a stark contrast in both character and policy.
As Trump progresses with his routine of signing executive orders and addressing reporters on various issues nearly daily, Biden becomes a reference point in discussions on topics like Ukraine, illegal immigration, and even Trump’s aversion to paper straws.
“All of this started with Biden and his entourage of incompetent advisors,” Trump criticized, challenging Biden’s immigration policies. He further critiqued U.S. assistance to Ukraine, asserting: “Biden commits to it simply because he lacks intelligence.”
Furthermore, despite becoming the 47th president after defeating Kamala Harris, he hardly ever mentions her, even while he frequently recounts the battleground states and the popular vote he won in the previous November election.
Instead, Trump keeps revisiting his favorite target, Biden.
“In just two weeks, we’ve achieved more than Biden has in the last five or six years,” Trump proclaimed as he sat behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, where Obama – who held office for four years – had left a note wishing his successor well, stating: “May God bless you and lead you.”
Rarely has a day elapsed since Trump resumed office without his mentioning Biden’s name—criticizing, ridiculing, and disparaging him regarding domestic and international policies.
At nearly every juncture, Trump underscores Biden’s age (Biden is 82, while Trump is 78) and questions his mental sharpness, which Trump reiterated when announcing he was revoking Biden’s security clearance and access to daily intelligence summaries.
This decision, unveiled by Trump while en route to Mar-a-Lago the previous weekend, coincided precisely with the four-year anniversary of Biden acting similarly against Trump, citing his “erratic behavior” surrounding and following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“Joe, you’re terminated,” Trump remarked in a social media message announcing the decision. He concluded with his iconic slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Meanwhile, Biden has begun to adapt to his new life back in Delaware following his presidency.
He has occasionally shared his thoughts with close friends and allies about Trump, revealing a sense of disbelief and astonishment at the daily whirlwind of events. If he feels any responsibility for paving the way for Trump’s return, he has not publicly acknowledged it, even in confidential discussions.
Several former advisers to Biden expressed their hesitation to publicly comment on Trump’s repeated criticisms of their former leader. A spokesperson on Biden’s behalf refrained from commenting.
Tim Naftali, a historian focused on the presidency and the former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, noted that Trump’s fixation on Biden is particularly notable among past presidential rivalries.
“It’s surprising that he cares so much, considering he won the popular vote and had remarkable approval ratings in his initial weeks,” mentioned Naftali, also a UJ contributor. “He references President Biden more frequently than the Democratic Party itself.”
He further asserted: “Referencing Biden serves as a way to energize his supporters, and he simply can’t help himself.”
When Trump first assumed the presidency eight years prior, he frequently mentioned his defeated rival Hillary Clinton and adopted a similar approach with his predecessor Barack Obama, who exited office enjoying considerably higher approval ratings than Biden. Their animosity cited the years of Trump’s unfounded claims about Obama’s birthplace.
During that era, such hostility was seen as a significant rift in presidential history. Typically, presidents from both parties attempt to project at least a semblance of cordiality towards their predecessors, even while privately harbouring disdain and presenting public critiques in a more subtle manner.
Trump, however, wore his contempt openly. He accused Obama of surveilling him at Trump Tower, while also enumerating a litany of other complaints. He had little praise for his Republican forerunners either, faulting George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush for promoting militaristic agendas.
With Biden, Trump has a significantly less popular opponent compared to his previous rivalry with Obama.
The 46th president exited office with historically low approval ratings and faced extensive criticism, including from within his own party, for failing to step down sooner, which might have allowed Harris or another candidate the opportunity to mount a comprehensive campaign against Trump.
Yet, on one occasion, Trump expressed some empathy towards Biden’s situation, lamenting what he deemed an undignified and harsh process of sidelining the president from the Democratic ticket.
“They took the presidency away from Joe Biden, and I’m no fan of Biden,” he commented a few weeks after Biden withdrew.
Their civility was briefly evident in a meeting that occurred shortly after the November election, where Trump and Biden gathered for nearly two hours to discuss a peaceful transfer of power.
“It will be as smooth as possible,” Trump remarked, “and I genuinely appreciate your cooperation, Joe.”
Yet, that tone proved to be short-lived.
Although Trump refrained from mentioning Biden by name during his inaugural speech, claiming that “America’s decline is over,” it didn’t take long for him to begin doing so. By the end of his first week, Biden had already become a central theme in Trump’s speeches.
At a rally in Las Vegas, Trump shared anecdotes, claiming foreign leaders tried to reach Biden only to be informed that he was asleep.
“He’ll get back to you in two months,” Trump asserted, attributing this to French President Emmanuel Macron.
However, Trump hasn’t yet initiated a formal criminal inquiry against Biden, despite directing his attorney general to investigate widespread issues linked to the former administration upon taking office.
Given some comments Trump has made since assuming office, it appears a probe into Biden may not be too far on the horizon.
“I endured four years of misery because of the scum we had to confront. It cost me millions in legal fees, but I triumphed, albeit the hard way,” Trump told Fox News. “It’s difficult to argue they shouldn’t also face consequences. It’s truly hard to assert that.”
Trump went further, remarking: “The ironic part, perhaps the tragic part, is that he didn’t grant himself a pardon.”
