Where’s Joe? Biden already out of the picture

The US President’s absence from Monday’s G20 photo op is symbolic of his last few months in office.

It was no-show Joe as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anthony Alabanese took the limelight in a group photo with G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. Picture: AFP

If there was any doubt that Joe Biden is no longer in the picture for many world leaders, his final G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro provided a sure sign.

Biden has been making a last pitch for global support on issues from Ukraine and Gaza to climate change before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

But as his counterparts gathered for an official G20 photo ­beside the Brazilian city’s stunning bayside, there was a problem: the 81-year-old Biden was a no-show.

Instead, it was China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who joked and chatted in the front row before posing together.

Frustrated American officials blamed it on “logistical issues”, as Biden was still making his way to the area from talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who, along with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, also missed out. But while the issue did not appear to have been a deliberate snub, it reflected the increasingly sidelined status of the lame-duck US leader as Trump’s comeback looms.

The fact that it was the leaders of three BRICS countries in the front row that see themselves as a counterpart to a Western-dominated world did not help.

US President Joe Biden in Rio. Picture: AFP

The misstep comes in the twilight of a presidency whose achievements are set to meet a Trump-shaped wrecking ball come January 20.

Biden’s six-day tour of South America has turned into a desperate frenzy to reassure world leaders amid uncertainty about what Trump will bring, from trade wars to threats to upending old alliances.

At the G20 overnight on Monday, Biden had urged the other leaders to back Ukraine’s “sovereignty”, in his first comments since it emerged he had approved Kyiv’s use of long-range missiles against Russia. Yet Trump could reverse not only that decision, but also Biden’s huge US military aid for Ukraine, with signs that the president-elect may push through a peace deal that could force Kyiv to cede territory to Moscow.

Biden also pushed G20 leaders to pressure Hamas on a ceasefire deal with Israel – and while Trump has appointed some key Israel hawks, he may also try to push for a historic deal there too.

Time and again, Biden has used his valedictory appearance on the world stage to try to keep his policies out of Trump’s shadow.

At last week’s APEC summit in Peru, Biden met Xi, who promised to work with Trump on a “smooth” transition even as both leaders warned of turbulence ahead.

On Sunday, Biden visited the Amazon rainforest in Brazil to promote his record on climate change – despite Trump threatening to pull the US back out of the Paris climate agreement.

AFP