Former President Joe Biden pulled no punches in his first interview since leaving office, taking aim at President Donald Trump over his actions and rhetoric. In a wide-ranging conversation with BBC’s Nick Robinson, Biden slammed his predecessor’s handling of both foreign policy and domestic issues.
Biden didn’t follow the usual tradition of staying quiet about his successor. Instead, he slammed Trump’s rhetoric, calling it “beneath America” and accusing him of “modern day appeasement” in his handling of Russia and Ukraine.
One moment that clearly stood out to Biden was an incident from February, when Trump and his ally, Vice President JD Vance, clashed with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an Oval Office meeting. Zelenskyy had told them that Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted in peace talks, a statement that led to a heated response from Trump and Vance.
Biden didn’t mince words about the incident: “I found it beneath America, the way that took place.” He was visibly frustrated by what he described as the “fantasies” that Trump seemed to entertain about U.S. expansionism. “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],’” Biden said.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Biden asked, clearly taken aback. “What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”
Biden also didn’t hold back when asked about Trump’s tendency to behave in ways that some see as authoritarian. When asked if Trump was acting more like a monarch, Biden shot back that he wasn’t “behaving like a Republican president.”
Biden accused Trump of pursuing policies of appeasement, particularly with regard to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He painted Trump’s efforts to end the war as weak and misguided, underscoring his belief that America needed a stronger, more consistent stance on the world stage.
In this interview, Biden made it clear that he believes Trump’s leadership wasn’t just a departure from Republican norms—it was a threat to the principles America stands for.
Watch the clip below:
"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
