How the World Is Reacting to Biden Ending His Reelection Bid

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at world reactions to U.S. President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, and the China-Philippines provisional deal.

Biden Drops Out

U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid, sending shock waves through Washington and leaving the Democratic Party scrambling to pick a new candidate ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a letter posted on social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” In a subsequent post on X, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him and urged his party to “come together and beat [Donald] Trump.”

Harris, who was informed of the president’s decision on Sunday, said she was “honored” to have his backing and that her intention was to “earn and win this nomination” at the Democratic National Convention, which is set to take place on Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win,” Harris said in her full statement.

The president’s abrupt announcement came following weeks of mounting pressure from within his own party for him to reconsider running for the White House again as concerns over his health and ability to govern grew after his debate performance last month. At the time of the announcement, Biden, 81, was at his beach house in Delaware, isolating and recovering from COVID-19.

The news also reverberated around the globe, with U.S. allies and adversaries alike reacting to the sudden change in the U.S. domestic political landscape just a few months before an election that holds significant stakes for geopolitics.

World leaders including newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed their respect and admiration for the U.S. president, who was a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and saw the onset of wars in Europe and the Middle East as president.

“We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership,” Zelensky wrote on X. “He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war.”

Leaders of other close U.S. allies in Europe expressed similar sentiments about the president, who has devoted much of his time in the White House to rebuilding and strengthening America’s alliances abroad after they were shaken by his predecessor, Trump. “Joe Biden has achieved a lot: for his country, for Europe, for the world,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X. “His decision not to run again deserves respect.” Also on X, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote that Biden had made difficult decisions “thanks to which Poland, America and the world are safer, and democracy stronger.”

U.S. allies in Asia were more circumspect, emphasizing the importance of their countries’ relationships with the United States rather than with Biden himself. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office said it would “continue to work closely with the U.S. to further develop the South Korea-U.S. global comprehensive strategic alliance.” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he recognized that “Biden’s decision is based on his desire to make the best possible political decision,” adding that the “Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of our nation’s diplomatic security, and we will continue to monitor it closely.”

U.S. adversaries, meanwhile, had their own thoughts about the situation. Russia used the moment as an opportunity to take a dig at the United States, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that Moscow was “not too surprised” by Biden’s withdrawal. “In recent years, what has been happening in the United States has taught us not to be surprised by anything,” Peskov told reporters on Monday. “This topic should concern American voters but not us,” he said, adding that “what is very important for us is the future of Russian-American relations, which are now experiencing the worst period in history.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has so far stayed silent on Biden’s withdrawal from the race, and a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said only that the “presidential election is an internal affair of the United States.” However, Chinese state media outlets including Xinhua and Global Times covered the story, and the news sparked much conversation on Chinese social media: On Weibo, the entry “Biden withdrew from the election” attracted more than 400 million views and tens of thousands of comments, Voice of America reported.

Many Chinese social media users expressed the sentiment that the shake-up at the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket mattered little. “Because Trump’s personality is so outstanding, [American] voters are now divided into two groups: Trump lovers & Trump haters,” former Global Times editor Hu Xijin posted on X. “So the choice seems to be: Trump, or anyone.”

Today’s Most Read

The World This Week

Tuesday, July 23: U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov pays a three-day visit to North Korea.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visits China on a two-day trip.

Wednesday, July 24: Netanyahu delivers an address to the U.S. Congress.

Thursday, July 25: G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Sunday, July 28: Venezuela holds presidential elections.

Monday, July 29: Japan expected to host a foreign ministers’ meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

What We’re Following

Netanyahu visits Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Monday for a three-day visit—his first to Washington in nearly four years. He is expected to meet with Biden at the White House on Tuesday and address the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

His trip comes amid U.S. domestic political uncertainty following Biden’s Sunday announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Israeli leader underscored the importance of securing bipartisan support for his country and said he will thank Biden for his unwavering support for Israel throughout his career. “I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless of who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains America’s indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu’s visit also comes at a critical moment in the Israel-Hamas war and ongoing U.S.-backed cease-fire and hostage release negotiations in Cairo. Even as Washington hopes to inch closer to a deal, the situation in the Middle East remains tense.

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of part of the designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza and launched a new strike in the area, citing “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire.” The attack killed at least 57 Palestinians and left more than 170 people injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Over the weekend, the Israeli military also launched attacks on Yemen in retaliation for the recent Houthi-led drone attack on Tel Aviv that killed an Israeli citizen and injured 10 others. Israel also struck what it said were Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon on Sunday.

Amid a rising death toll and worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, some U.S. congressional Democrats are planning to boycott the Israeli prime minister’s speech, adding to a fraught atmosphere as Washington tries to project calm in the middle of an otherwise chaotic election year.

A deal in the South China Sea. The Philippines and China reached a provisional agreement on Sunday in an attempt to defuse escalating tensions in the South China Sea. The tentative deal, which comes after weeks of diplomatic consultations between the two nations, will allow Manila to resupply its naval ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, in the contested Second Thomas Shoal.

“Both sides continue to recognize the need to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and manage differences through dialogue and consultation and agree that the agreement will not prejudice each other’s positions in the South China Sea,” the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrangement but emphasized its conditional nature, reiterating that it would conduct “on-site verification” and “monitor” each resupply mission.

Last week, Beijing and Manila also agreed to open an emergency hotline between their presidential offices. If successful, the recent diplomatic wins could help quell the monthslong flare-up in the region that saw China embracing an aggressive approach and using its Coast Guard to threaten and attack Philippine ships and sailors in the disputed waters.

The United States and Philippines are bound by their 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, and U.S. officials, including Biden, have reaffirmed that Washington’s commitment to its Indo-Pacific allies, including Manila, remains “ironclad.”

Bangladesh court scraps job quotas. Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped most government job quotas following deadly nationwide student-led protests against the decades-old employment system that favored the descendants of veterans who fought against Pakistan in Bangladesh’s War of Independence.

The Supreme Court ruling directed the government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party, to make 93 percent of government jobs open to all candidates on the basis of merit. According to the new directive, only 5 percent of public sector jobs can be reserved for family members of veterans, whereas the remaining 2 percent will be reserved for ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

“I am hoping normalcy will return after today’s ruling, and people with ulterior motives will stop instigating people,” Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin told Reuters.

The protests, which first erupted on July 1, took a violent turn after clashes with police and counter-protesters intensified and have resulted in the deaths of at least 139 people. Despite the top court’s decision and as demonstrations calm down, some student leaders remain frustrated and are demanding the immediate release of those detained, the restoration of internet and mobile data services, and the resignation of government ministers.

Odds and Ends

Thousands of local residents and activists took to the streets in Mallorca, Spain, on Sunday to protest against mass tourism. Carrying homemade paper airplanes and posters that read “Stop Private Jets,” they argued that visitors are driving up the island’s cost of living and straining its housing market. Meanwhile, a group of Mallorca’s pro-tourism residents launched an online platform to express their gratitude to tourists for supporting the local economy.

The protest followed a string of similar demonstrations in Spain’s other popular summer destinations, such as Barcelona, Málaga, and the Canary Islands. A UNESCO official, in an interview with Squawk Box Asia, warned that if European officials failed to address the costs of mass tourism, the protests in Spain will spread.