Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed hope to The Associated Press that the incoming Trump administration will continue key aspects of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy, particularly regarding the Middle East and Ukraine.
In a broad interview on his final day as America’s top diplomat, Blinken voiced concern that the Trump team may discard some or all of these policies.
Blinken mentioned that “if past is prologue,” there are worries the new administration might not continue efforts to end the Gaza war, defend Ukraine, and strengthen alliances.
“I don’t know, can’t know, how they approach things,” he said. “I do think that there is, there could and I believe should, be some real continuity in a couple of places.”
“The best laid plans. There’s, of course, no guarantee that our successors will look to them, rely on them,” Blinken said. “But at least there’s that option. At least they can decide whether this is a good basis for proceeding and make changes.”
He expressed regret that the Biden administration’s focus on key foreign policy priorities has been shifted by global events, such as the Afghanistan withdrawal, Russia’s Ukraine invasion, and the Gaza crisis, which diverted attention from core goals, especially in the Indo-Pacific.
These are “not what we came in wanting or expecting to have to be focused on,” he said.
He said that despite handling those crises, the administration remained focused on global matters and, in his opinion, succeeded in rebuilding strained alliances and partnerships worldwide.
“Rest of world: can’t lose sight of it,” he said. “Got to keep the focus on in the places where it really matters for America’s security and for America’s future.”
In that address to employees, Blinken paid tribute to their work over the past four years despite multiple challenges, ranging from Afghanistan and Ukraine to the Middle East.
“Without you in the picture, this world, our country would look so much different,” Blinken told a cheering crowd of several hundred staffers gathered at the department’s main Washington entrance, decorated with the flags of all countries with which the U.S. has diplomatic relations.
“With you in the picture, both are so much better,” he said. “You’re working every day to make things just a little bit better, a little bit more peaceful, a little bit more full of hope, of opportunity. That’s your mission, and you do it so well.”
President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly skeptical of the State Department and its traditional role in crafting administration foreign policy.
Trump once referred to the agency as the “Deep State Department,” and he and his associates have made no secret of their desire to purge career officials who do not show sufficient loyalty to the president. His choice to be Blinken’s successor, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, has said he respects the foreign service, but he has not yet detailed any plans for how the department will be managed.
With AP inputs
