President Biden’s Oval Office address on Wednesday night prompted little reaction from foreign leaders, but China and Russia provoked an Air Force incident in a preview of what the coming months may hold, an expert says.
“Russia and China will almost certainly take advantage of the tenuous situation in the White House,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital. “I expect provocations the closer we get to November.”
Biden spoke from the Oval Office in a relatively brief primetime address during which he explained his reasons for deciding not to seek a second term after running for several months and debating former President Trump.
The lack of response on Thursday cut a sharp contrast to the outpouring of support Biden found from allies or even the backhanded comments from rival foreign leaders on Sunday following his initial announcement.
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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier this week explained that Russia viewed Biden as a “predictable” candidate and cryptically warned that “the election is still four months away, and that is a long time during which much can change.”
President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday, July 14, about the assassination attempt against former President Trump. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Ahead of Biden’s address, Russia and China deployed jets and bombers that skirted the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), forcing the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to scramble jets and intercept the foreign aircraft.
The brief incident occurred less than an hour before Biden addressed the nation, which Koffler said would essentially serve as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s response to Biden’s speech.
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“While there hasn’t been an official verbal reaction from the Kremlin, the joint patrol that the Russian and Chinese warplanes conducted in international airspace near Alaska was almost certainly a reaction by Moscow and Beijing to President Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race,” Koffler argued.
A North American Aerospace Defense Command F-22 Raptor flies next to a Russian Tu-95 bomber during an intercept in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on June 16, 2020.
“Putin and Xi are likely strategic messaging to Washington that Russia and China that they will escalate their geopolitical confrontation with the United States during what they perceive as a vulnerable period for America,” she added.
Trump, during a “Fox & Friends” interview, ridiculed Biden’s speech and blasted media outlets for not treating him more rigorously after what he deemed to be a “terrible” speech.
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“It was terrible, it was a terrible speech,” Trump said. “Terrible delivery, he was having problems, and yet you watch the other networks, and you’d think he was Ronald Reagan in his prime, he was Winston Churchill in his prime, and he wasn’t.”
Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
“It was not good. It was not a good speech,” Trump reiterated, insisting that it was clear Biden was having “problems.”
Trump went on to address the global impact of Biden’s decision and speech, saying that the protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday would draw notice from rival leaders in China, Russia and elsewhere.
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“All over the world, Putin and President Xi of China, all over the world, they’re watching this,” Trump claimed. “Kim Jong Un, he looks at us like we’re a bunch of babies.”
“They see that that wouldn’t happen in their countries,” Trump insisted. “It’s impossible for that to happen in their country… we look so bad to the world.”
Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
