US President Biden actually wanted to travel to Germany this week. But because of a dangerous hurricane, he now throws his plans overboard. It is unclear when the visit will be rescheduled.
After US President Joe Biden’s visit to Germany was postponed due to Hurricane Milton, there is still no information as to when the trip will be rescheduled. Biden said he wanted to speak to Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the phone. “I will speak to my friend the German Chancellor today and we will try to find a solution,” Biden said during a brief address to the approaching Hurricane Milton at the White House on Tuesday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) showed understanding for the decision. “If such storms raged in my country, then I would also make this decision,” he said in the program “RTL Direkt special – At the table with Olaf Scholz,” which was to be broadcast that evening. It would have been “a very important meeting,” but it will be rescheduled.
Biden had been asked whether he would reschedule the trips to Germany and Angola originally planned for Thursday to Tuesday. Biden said he still plans to visit all the places and conferences he has committed to. The Federal President’s Office said that the government headquarters in Washington hoped for a timely postponement. A spokeswoman said they were in discussions with the US side about setting a date.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also canceled his trip to Germany. Blinken will return to the capital Washington from the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Asean states in Laos, said ministry spokesman Matthew Miller.
The White House had previously announced that Biden was postponing his trip to Germany and Angola because of Hurricane Milton, which was heading towards the state of Florida. The US government did not give any details about when Biden, whose term ends in January, would make the trips. German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit regretted the postponement of the visit. But the federal government “of course understands the situation in Florida,” he told the German Press Agency. “The White House informed us in advance.”
Biden had planned an extensive program in Germany
Biden actually wanted to land in Germany late Thursday evening. It would have been Biden’s first bilateral visit to Germany in his almost four-year term in office. Biden took part in the G7 summit in Elmau in 2022 and on another occasion made refueling stops with his government plane at the US air force base Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Meetings with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Chancellor were planned in Berlin. On Saturday, Biden wanted to travel on to Ramstein. A Ukraine summit was supposed to take place there, to which Biden had invited. Around 50 NATO member states and other allies of Ukraine were expected to take part in the meeting, some at the level of heads of state and government. The Pentagon confirmed that the US President would not be in Ramstein in person. It is now unclear whether the summit will be canceled or take place without Biden. It would also be possible for him to take part virtually.
After the visit to Germany, the US President’s plan was to travel to Angola in southwest Africa.
There were already signs of cancellation
The question arose at the daily press conference in the White House on Monday as to whether Biden was considering postponing his plans because of the hurricane. His spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre responded evasively. Biden recently came under pressure over his handling of Hurricane Helene. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused the Democrat and his deputy Kamala Harris of not doing enough for the storm victims. Harris is running against Trump in the presidential election on November 5th.
The cancellation of the Germany trip is not Biden’s first change of plans due to pressing problems in the USA. About a year and a half ago, he canceled a planned trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia because of the debt dispute in the US Congress.
Florida just hit by “Helene”.
“Milton” is the second dangerous hurricane to hit the USA in a very short period of time. Just a week and a half after the deadly Hurricane Helene hit the west coast of Florida, Milton gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and was temporarily upgraded to a hurricane of the highest category. According to meteorologists, “Milton” is expected to lose strength again – but will still hit the west coast of Florida on Wednesday with wind speeds of around 200 kilometers per hour.
Florida is still struggling with the damage left behind by “Helene”. The storm made landfall in northwest Florida as a second-highest category hurricane. It then weakened, but caused severe flooding and destruction as it moved north. Well over 200 people in six states were killed.
Source: Stern
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