Biden Torches Trump In First Interview Since Leaving Office: ‘What The Hell’s Going On Here?’
Former President Joe Biden pulled few punches with his criticism of his predecessor-turned-successor, President Donald Trump, during his first interview since leaving the White House.
Biden eschewed the tradition of presidents keeping their counsel about their successors during the lengthy sit-down with the BBC’s Nick Robinson that aired Wednesday.
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He condemned Trump’s expansionist fantasies, expressed his contempt for the Trump White House’s treatment of America’s traditional allies and issued a short but sharp response to a question on Trump’s anti-democratic rhetoric.
In particular, Biden bristled at the Oval Office blowout between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February. Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy after he said Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t be trusted in peace talks.
“I found it beneath America, the way that took place,” Biden said of the tense exchange.
“And the way we talk about now that, ‘It’s the Gulf of America’, ‘Maybe we’re going to have to take back Panama,’ ’Maybe we need to acquire Greenland,′ ‘Maybe Canada should be a [51st state],’” he continued.
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\"What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that?\"
President Biden tells @BBCNickRobinson in an exclusive interview with #R4Today that President Trump’s foreign policy is ‘not who we are’ as a country.
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 7, 2025
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“What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that?”
President Biden tells @BBCNickRobinson in an exclusive interview with #R4Today that President Trump’s foreign policy is ‘not who we are’ as a country.
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 7, 2025
“What the hell’s going on here?” asked Biden. “What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”
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When asked if Trump’s actions were more akin to a monarch, Biden said his successor is “not behaving like a Republican president.”
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Biden also accused Trump of “modern day appeasement” over his faltering bid to end the Ukraine war, which Russia began with its invasion in 2022.
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