WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to order an end to American support for offensive operations in Yemen in his first visit to the State Department on Thursday, part of the new leader’s effort to reverse the foreign policy posture of his predecessor.
Former President Donald Trump, who frequently touted an “America First” approach to interacting with the world, vetoed a bipartisan resolution in 2019 calling on the U.S. to end involvement in Yemen. Trump’s decision was largely seen as an effort to side with Saudi Arabia, who the former president courted to purchase U.S. weapons.
Trump was a frequent critic of the State Department and his first secretary, Rex Tillerson, was seen as dismantling the agency and hollowing out the ranks of career employees.
“It’s not an accident that he has chosen the State Department as the venue for these first remarks,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan ahead of Biden’s visit. “He wants to send a clear message that our national security strategy will lead with diplomacy.”
In addition to the order on Yemen, Biden is expected to announce a number of policy actions aimed at undoing Trump’s agenda.
He will order ordering a freeze on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany initiated by Trump, increase the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. which was drastically cut under Trump and he will issue a memorandum protecting the rights of LGBTQ individuals around the world.
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Sullivan said that Biden’s remarks will not “be the totality of his foreign policy,” but instead will “be focused on his early decisions and actions.”
Thursday’s actions build off a number of foreign policy moves Biden has taken in his first two weeks in office. He rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization, ended a ban on U.S. entry from majority-Muslim countries and extended a crucial nuclear arms control treaty with Russia until 2026.
Biden’s speech comes as he is already confronting new international crises in just his first two weeks in office: the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and a military coup in Myanmar.
Biden is expected to visit with career officials in the foreign and civil service ahead of his speech. Trump frequently criticized career officials as part of the “deep state” and threatened to cut the department’s budget. The State Department’s civilian workforce shrank under Trump’s administration.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that there are no foreign trips in the works as of now and many global meetings with world leaders are expected to be virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
