Germany honoured US President Joe Biden for his contribution to transatlantic relations on Friday, ahead of his meetings with European allies on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
Mr Biden’s trip is the first bilateral visit to Germany by a US president for nearly eight years.
With the US presidential election just weeks away and the race tight, there are worries that a Trump victory could upset the relationships that Mr Biden is hoping to pass on to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Those concerns were reflected as Mr Biden received the highest class of Germany’s Order of Merit, which was also bestowed on former US President George HW Bush for his support of German reunification.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier pointed to Mr Biden’s interest in Germany going back more than four decades.
He said the friendship with the US is “and will always be existentially important” for Germany, but there have always been “times of proximity and greater distance”.
“Even recently, just a handful of years ago, the distance had grown so wide that we almost lost each other,” Mr Steinmeier said, in an allusion to tense relations during Mr Trump’s earlier presidency.
He said Mr Biden “restored Europe’s hope in the trans-Atlantic alliance literally overnight”.
“In the months to come, I hope that Europeans remember: America is indispensable for us,” he added. “And I hope that Americans remember: Your allies are indispensable for you. We are more than just ‘other countries’ in the world — we are partners, we are friends.”
Mr Biden thanked German leaders for their role in helping Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
“We cannot let up,” he said. “We must sustain our support. In my view, we must keep going until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace.”
Recalling the “wide sweep of history” he has seen in his 81 years, Mr Biden said “we should never underestimate the power of democracy, never underestimate the value of alliances”.
Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has an appetite for tariffing key US security partners. He has expressed indifference to the security of Ukraine, refusing to say during a presidential debate if he wants the US ally to win its war against Russia.
He has voiced doubts about coming to the defence of Nato members if they come under attack.
Speaking on board Air Force One on the way to Berlin, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had rejected the notion that Mr Biden wants to “Trump-proof” US foreign policy, because of the political implications of that term.
But Mr Sullivan’s stated goals seem designed to thwart efforts by a potential Trump administration to stop military aid to Ukraine after more than two years of fighting.
“What the president is trying to do is to make our commitment to Ukraine sustainable and institutionalised for the long term,” Mr Sullivan said. “And every other ally agreed that that was the responsible thing to do.”
But Mr Sullivan cautioned that Mr Biden ultimately can only speak for himself, not what his potential successor might do.
“What President Biden can do is what he’s done for four years, which is lay out his vision of America’s place in the world and point the way forward based on what he thinks are in America’s national security interests and in the interests of our close allies,” Mr Sullivan said.
“Beyond that, he can’t speak for anyone else and doesn’t intend to.”
Mr Trump has said his approach will help the US economy and prevent foreign countries from taking advantage of the United States. He maintains that if he were still president, Russia would never have invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Hamas would never have attacked Israel in 2023.
“I will end the war in Ukraine, stop the chaos in the Middle East, and prevent World War III,” he said at a recent rally in Georgia. “I can do that.”
At home, the president has verbally tussled with Mr Trump over falsehoods tied to the government’s relief efforts after hurricanes Helene and Milton, with Mr saying the willingness of Mr Trump and his allies to spread misinformation was “un-American”.
Ms Harris, for her part, has voiced strong backing for Ukraine and tracks with Mr Biden on support for Israel, while placing particular emphasis on the need to relieve the suffering of Palestinian civilians whose lives have been upended by the Hamas war.
Mr Biden has long said that his message to foreign leaders is that “America is back” and engaged with allies after Mr Trump’s time in office.
But the US president recalled being met with scepticism: “The comment that I hear most of all from them is they say, ‘We see America is back but for how long? But for how long?’.”
Mr Biden did not want his term to end without visiting the German capital of Berlin, after having been to visit other key allies such as Japan, South Korea, France, India, the UK, Poland and Ukraine.
Mr Biden started on Friday by going to Bellevue Palace and meeting Mr Steinmeier.
Mr Biden will later meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Mr Biden and Mr Scholz will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer before the US president flies home late on Friday afternoon.
Mr Biden and Mr Scholz plan to discuss next steps in Ukraine and developments in Israel and Gaza after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
They also intend to touch on Lebanon and Iran, and co-ordinate their approaches to China as well as their respective industrial and innovation strategies.
The two are also set to talk about the development of artificial intelligence and renewable energy resources.
While Mr Biden wants to use the trip to emphasise the importance of democratic values, he has no plans to hold a news conference to answer questions from reporters.
Mr Sullivan pushed back against the idea that a news conference would reflect democratic values after reporters raised the subject with him aboard Air Force One.
“I mean, honestly, I think invoking democracy and suggesting that President Biden is somehow insufficiently committed to it because of the structure of his press engagement on one day in Germany is a bit ludicrous,” Mr Sullivan said.
