Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Biden Won't Reverse All Of Trump's Foreign Policy. Here's What He'll Follow Trump

Biden Won't Reverse All Of Trump's Foreign Policy. Here's What He'll Follow Trump

President Biden's Iran policy is significantly different from that of his predecessor. But there are some things started by former President Donald Trump that Biden plans to build on.
A constant theme of President Biden's campaign for the White House was his sharp criticism of the irreparable damage to U.S. alliances, reputation and security that he argued came from the policy and actions of the Trump administration.

So it was perhaps a bit surprising to hear Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, praise several aspects of former President Donald Trump's international agenda during a joint appearance with Robert O'Brien, Sullivan's predecessor at the helm of the White House National Security Council.

Fittingly, the panel was sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace: the latest in a 20-year tradition of a joint conversation between the outgoing and incoming national security advisers after a transfer of power.

One of the Trump initiatives Biden plans to build on is the series of Abraham Accords, economic agreements between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan brokered by the Trump administration. Biden views the agreements as "positive for security in the region, positive for economic development in the region and positive for America's national interests," Sullivan said.

"Then-candidate Biden made no bones about coming out and saying, 'I think this is a good thing, I think this is a positive thing,' " when the first wave of agreements were finalized during the 2020 campaign, Sullivan noted.

Sullivan said the Biden administration aims to "deepen the cooperation between the countries that have signed the accords, make real the normalization that has taken root" and add additional countries as well.

Sullivan, who has been on the job for a little more than a week, also said the new administration plans to build on the Trump administration's partnership with Japan, India and Australia under what's known as the "Quad" — the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

The informal talks on security and regional issues — particularly issues where China is involved — is "a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Pacific region," Sullivan said.

For his part, O'Brien said he thought Biden and Sullivan were "off to a great start on China."

Even though he stuck to diplomatic language in his friendly conversation with O'Brien, Sullivan also noted clear differences with the previous administration, and warned that Trump-era policies had worsened what he called an "escalating nuclear crisis" with Iran.

"Iran's nuclear program has advanced dramatically over the course of the past couple years," he said. "They are significantly closer to a nuclear weapon than they were when the previous administration withdrew from the [Iran nuclear deal]. Their ballistic missile capability has also advanced dramatically."

Sullivan helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal for the Obama administration, where he was national security adviser for Biden, then the vice president. The Trump administration pulled the United States out of the multinational agreement under which Iran agreed to stop working toward developing nuclear weapons in exchange for eased sanctions and steps toward more normalized relations with the U.S. and Europe.

Throughout the campaign and transition, Biden and Sullivan have insisted that some sort of return to the landmark deal is possible despite four years of breakdowns in the U.S.-Iran relationship, and Iran's renewed progress toward acquiring nuclear weapons.

On Friday, Sullivan said the Biden team would work to "get back to diplomacy" to try to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions with allies and regional partners.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×