Trump’s last-minute foreign policy actions won’t vandalize Biden’s initial diplomatic agenda
Why Biden could mitigate the foreign policy challenges set by Trump
During the last weeks of the Trump Presidency, the State Department announced significant policies on Yemen, Cuba, Taiwan and Iran that sought to raise the stakes for Biden’s initial foreign policy plans.
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made near-daily announcements of major foreign policy actions, many of which appear designed to cement Trump priorities and create roadblocks to new directions charted by the incoming Biden team.” — The Washington Post
Will those last-minute moves box in Biden on foreign policy? The short answer is no because Biden enjoys more presidential powers than Trump on foreign policy. Here are the main reasons:
Popular mandates
While the Trump administration can issue executive orders from Day one to the late minute, its popular mandates remain at a low point. According to NBC’s presidential approval poll tracker,
“Trump’s approval among voters to be remarkably stable despite his tumultuous presidency, fluctuating only between a high of 47 percent and a low of 38 percent.”
As the first U.S. presidential candidate to have won more than 80 million votes, Biden received 51.3 percent of the popular votes cast in the 2020 election. The higher starting point will grant Biden more popular mandates, which makes it justifiable to “undone” the foreign policy actions on Day one.
Congressional support
In terms of legislation and the Presidential-Congressional relations, Biden’s powers are unparalleled to Trump, the President who has been impeached twice by the House.
