What Foreign Diplomacy Will Look Like Under President Biden

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, look, this is an important day. And I just want to get your first reaction. The European Commission president has said, it’s a new day, we’re ready to engage with our oldest and most trusted ally, the United States, President Biden has said, we want to repair alliances, meet the challenges of the future. He’s already gone back into the climate accord, the Paris accords, and to the WHO. Can you tell me just how you’re feeling about this new chapter in the transatlantic relationship?

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: I have a very good feeling, because this is really a new chapter. And President Biden has so clearly stated that he wants to rebuild alliances. I know Joe Biden as a strong supporter of NATO, the transatlantic bond. So, I’m looking forward to working with him and I’m looking forward to welcome him to the NATO summit in Brussels later this year.

AMANPOUR: So, look, I need to ask you, because you were really diplomatic throughout the four years of the Trump administration. So, I kind of want to ask you how difficult it was to keep that NATO alliance on the straight and narrow, and how difficult it was sort of with the unpredictability of President Trump, who always claimed that he was the one that basically forced you and the other partners to up their contributions? What was it like dealing with that? And do you accept that? Was that something President Trump got you to do?

STOLTENBERG: There’s no denying that, at times, it was tough and challenging. And I had some difficult discussions with President Trump on issues ranging from arms control, Russia, to defense spending. But what we achieved was to keep this alliance together, to maintain the NATO alliance, a strong alliance, and that’s not least because of the very strong bipartisan support in the United States for NATO. I saw that myself when I delivered a speech to the Congress. And NATO is a unique platform, bringing together North America and Europe. And now I know that we need to build — rebuild some trust, and I know that President Biden is really going to invest in strengthening the transatlantic bond.