President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited State Department headquarters in Washington Thursday to praise career U.S. diplomats and promise the new administration will “have [their] back” over the coming four years as it pushes a policy of expanded American diplomatic engagement around the world.
“You’re the face of America abroad and in our administration, you’re going to be trusted and you’re going to be empowered,” Mr. Biden told a crowd as a moment of hope in the department after what many at State have described as a period of low morale during the former Trump administration.
While the former administration had supporters among State’s rank and file, President Trump’s unorthodox foreign policy approach and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s combative style caused unease among many within the department who felt diplomacy was often pushed to the wayside in favor of “America first” posturing.
Mr. Biden appeared eager to address the unease as he greeted career diplomats Thursday.
“America is back,” the president said. “America is back. Diplomacy is back. You are the center of all that I intend to do. You are the heart of it.”
Mr. Biden, who is slated to give a broader foreign policy speech Thursday afternoon, offered the brief initial remarks after Ms. Harris told the crowd that she and the president were visiting “to tell you we are committed to upholding the highest standards.”
The vice president thanked career U.S. diplomats for staying true to “democracy, to human rights and to the rule of law” during what she said was a “difficult” period of years under the Trump administration.
The period was marked by a wave of resignations at State, where frustration bloomed particularly among career diplomats over the Trump administration’s treatment in 2019 of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Mr. Biden told diplomats on Thursday that his administration will stand up for them.
“I believe in you. We need you badly. We trust you, and I’m going to have your back,” he said. “That I promise you, just like you’re going to have the backs of the American people.”