It isn’t just Democrats and the rest of the American public: Diplomats and leaders attending the NATO summit are also worried about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness and the increasing likelihood of Trump winning in November.
“It’s a very weird feeling to be in Europe listening to the president of the United States, and you’re more stressed about whether he will go off script than being excited to listen to the leader of the free world,” one senior European diplomat told Politico. “You’re worried if he knows which direction he’s going or whether he’s going to fall or what he’s going to forget or if he’ll say ‘North Korea’ when he meant ‘South Korea.’ It’s just a weird experience.”
The diplomats that Politico spoke to expressed concern about Trump returning to the White House and overhauling or even ending the alliance, which the former president and convicted felon has repeatedly promised he will do.
“Everyone’s focusing on Biden’s appearance and less on Trump’s statements about NATO,” a senior European diplomat said, also expressing concern about Trump’s age. “He’s not that much younger.”
Another diplomat was more frank.
“He didn’t look good,” the diplomat said about Biden, speaking on the condition of anonymity along with the rest of Politico’s sources within the visiting delegations.
As heads of state arrived on Wednesday for the summit, many faced questions from the media about their thoughts on whether Biden was in a weaker state following his widely panned debate performance from two weeks ago. None gave any clear praise or defense of Biden, instead dodging questions about the president and saying that they would respect America’s political process.
“I’m not going to comment on this topic,” said Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who walked off after speaking for just a few minutes.
While it’s not a campaign event, the summit has been critical for Biden to demonstrate that he can handle himself on the world stage with international leaders, and can thus reassure the public that he is up to another four years as president. But the visiting members of NATO have other, arguably more important concerns.
“All the Americans are looking for at this summit is the photo op of Biden with allies,” one official said. “We’re really concerned that the world will essentially be leaderless for the next several months, and then we don’t know what comes after that.”
