RIO DE JANEIRO — President Biden was honored Tuesday with a front-row spot at a group photo of G20 leaders in Brazil. President Biden's week-long tour of South America has been dominated by reports on President Biden's position, or lack thereof, in two portraits so far, but after that, a group photo of G20 leaders in Brazil. President Biden earned a front row spot.
Biden, 81, stood between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The positions of U.S. and Chinese President Xi Jinping were equidistant from the host, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The outgoing leader of the world's most powerful country is in the back corner of a group photo from the APEC meeting in Lima, Peru, on Saturday, before Biden skips the G20, with Xi honored front center. After occupying a certain place, it received negative press. Monday's group photo.
The White House said the allegations were downplayed at the APEC meeting of Pacific Rim nations because the leaders were supposed to stand in alphabetical order, and two other countries took the turns in the wrong order, calling it an “error in protocol.” accused of committing a crime.
In contrast, then-President Donald Trump stood in the center of two group photos at the 2017 APEC meeting in Vietnam. This meeting was the only meeting attended by the president during his first term.
Biden did not participate in the first Group of 20 group photo introducing the world's top executives on Monday, but the president walked nearby shortly after other senior officials clasped hands and smiled. The White House blamed “logistical problems” after reporters witnessed the attack.
The group photo included Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with whom Biden was thought to be reluctant to pose due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, also outspoken supporters of Kiev, also missed the photo.
The headlines about the group photo and the symbolism it conveyed made little news, as Biden chose not to take any questions from the press, other than for the fiscal pledge that President-elect Trump can rescind after his second term in office. Since then, Biden's visit has been widely reported. A few months.
Biden, who turns 82 on Wednesday, will use the trip to highlight Trump's impending return to power and his plans to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles deep in Russia, which was first reported on Sunday. He did not speak publicly about the decision.
The main theme of the trip was the competing influence of the United States and China in Latin America, with China receiving a more elaborate state visit in Peru as a thank you for investing $1.3 billion in a new port in the country. .
Another $3.5 billion rail project aims to connect the port to Brazilian markets.
Meanwhile, Biden on Monday pledged $4 billion to the World Bank's International Development Association. In previous visits, he touted a rocket testing agreement with Peru and pledged $50 million in additional funding to Brazil's Amazon Fund.
Biden compounded the optics by visiting and meeting Xi at the Chinese leader's hotel during his trip to Peru, but the White House said the two men alternately hosted three summits. He said, dispelling that respect.
The US leader departed Lima as spectators waved Chinese flags as the president's motorcade headed to the airport.
