Saddled with a dysfunctional Congress, President Joe Biden welcomed European Union leaders to the White House on Friday with the promise that the United States can nonetheless deliver tens of billions of dollars worth of aid to wartime Ukraine and Israel.
Biden greeted European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by noting their unity.
“We stood together to support the great people of Ukraine, and we stood together to tackle economic challenges,” Biden said, and now the leaders would come together to back Israel following the Hamas attack and establish standards in trade with China.
The Cabinet Room sit-down came at a moment when domestic U.S. political chaos could further destabilize an increasingly chaotic world. Many of Biden’s shared priorities with the EU depend on getting a budget through Congress — a tough task given that the House lacks an elected speaker and differences with some Republican lawmakers over aid for Ukraine could force a federal government shutdown in November.