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HIROSHIMA, Japan — In his final appearance before leaving the Group of Seven summit here, President Biden first addressed the issue that disrupted the trip before it even began: the looming debt crisis back home.
“Before turning to the important work we accomplished here at the G-7, I want to take a few minutes to address the budget negotiations that I’m heading back home to deal with,” Biden said at the start of his news conference.
The president then dove into the details of the negotiations — slamming Republicans for not moving off their “extreme positions,” touting his administration’s efforts to cut costs and trying to poke holes in the Republicans’ argument about spending cuts.
“It’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely — solely — on their partisan terms,” Biden said. “They have to move, as well.”
There’s no final debt ceiling deal. But already, lawmakers don’t like it.
Biden planned a three-country trip through the Indo Pacific this week, intending to rally allies against China’s growing economic and political influence in the region and throughout the world. But as the president headed back to Washington on Sunday, four days earlier than initially expected, it was clear that objective was stymied.
At every turn, Biden faced questions — from reporters and other foreign leaders — about the debt limit crisis in Washington that threatens to upend the global economy. Add to that the surprise in-person appearance by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G-7 summit, which immediately overshadowed other topics on the leaders’ agenda.
The twin developments ultimately relegated the progress the allied leaders made in agreeing to strengthen their rhetoric against China to the background. And after Biden scrapped planned stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia to return to Washington because of the debt ceiling stalemate, he had little opportunity to elevate China again on the trip.
It was a familiar experience for Biden. Domestic events have routinely overshadowed his foreign trips and efforts to focus on global priorities. The G-7 summit last year, for example, took place just days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, thrusting the issue of abortion to the forefront.
In canceling Pacific trip, Biden shows the U.S. has higher priorities
This year, the inability of Republicans and Democrats to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling, the limit on what the nation can borrow to pay its bills, ahead of a deadline that could arrive in less than two weeks scuttled Biden’s additional stops while spooking financial markets and foreign leaders who fear a global economic catastrophe if the United States defaults.
Biden could rarely avoid questions about the impasse, from the moment he landed to the moment he departed.
“It is definitely a subject of interest here at the G-7,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters Saturday about the debt limit. “You know, countries want to have a sense of how these negotiations are going to play out.”
What is the debt ceiling, and what happens if the U.S. hits it?
Initially, the president tried to ignore the questions. During his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden did not answer inquiries about the status of the negotiations.
But the president eventually engaged, telling reporters he was still optimistic a deal could be reached ahead of the deadline.
“I still believe we’ll be able to avoid a default, and we’ll get something decent done,” he said Saturday before a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Biden also received regular updates from his staff on the status of the negotiations. The White House posted a photo Friday of Biden, flanked by three senior aides, participating in a Zoom call with staffers in Washington, including the three advisers tasked with leading negotiations with Republicans.
But throughout Biden’s trip, the talks kept hitting snags.
Congressional Republicans walked out of negotiations on Friday, blaming the White House for not agreeing to make significant cuts to federal spending, a sticking point for the GOp. The talks resumed hours later.
On Saturday, Republicans rejected a White House offer to limit spending next year on both the military and a wide range of critical domestic programs. And later that day, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he thought it would be difficult to resume negotiations until Biden returned from his trip.
“We gave a counterproposal to the counterproposal,” Biden said Sunday during his news conference. “I know this is sounding ridiculous, but that’s what we did.”
Still, as Biden departed Japan, he made clear he was squarely focused on finding a way to avoid a historic and potentially catastrophic default: He had a call scheduled with McCarthy for his flight back to Washington on Air Force One.
