- READ MORE: Biden to host world leaders at his lakeside home for summit
President Joe Biden is nearing the end of his presidency and with one of his last major summits he is giving a very personal touch to diplomacy.
Without observing the usual formalities, he has banned the press from covering his personal meetings with world leaders and is using his lakeside home in Delaware to host the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan described how Australian leader Anthony Albanese toured Biden’s residence on Friday night.
But he didn’t know if the president had a chance to show him his pride and joy: a 1967 Corvette Stingray.
“The atmosphere was like two guys in each other’s houses, talking broadly about how they see the state of the world, exchanging some stories from their respective political careers and talking about the history of the US-Australia alliance,” he told reporters.
President Joe Biden has not allowed media coverage of his bilateral meetings with world leaders at his home. But he is seen here with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in images posted on their Twitter accounts.
“It was like someone came to your house for coffee or lunch.”
The leaders arrived in Wilmington, Delaware, for a meeting of the Quad, a four-nation alliance designed to focus attention on the Indo-Pacific and counter rising Chinese aggression.
“You’ve heard the president say many times that all politics is personal, all diplomacy is personal,” Sullivan said before Saturday’s meeting.
“And developing personal relationships has been central to his foreign policy strategy as president. So opening his home to the leaders of India, Japan and Australia is a way of showing, not just saying, that he cares about these leaders.”
He said no other members of the Biden family were present.
“They gave him a little tour of the house,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think he saw the Corvette.”
Not only have journalists been kept away from the one-on-one meetings, relegated to watching the tinted-window SUVs coming and going from the entrance, but there will be no news conference at the summit’s conclusion.
However, leaders are expected to announce plans to bolster maritime security in the region (with increased cooperation from the coast guard) and preposition aid supplies for humanitarian response missions.
The measures are intended to counterbalance an increasingly assertive China.
Biden mimes throwing a pass while visiting with members of the football team at Archmere Academy, his former school and site of the upcoming Quad summit, in Claymont, Delaware.
Biden points out the lake to Albanese as he shows him his home
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters that Albanese was given a tour of his home but was not sure if he got to see the president’s 67 Corvette Stingray.
“Obviously, we’re concerned about the actions that China has taken, and we talk about those actions quite directly and candidly, but we’re also putting the United States and our allies and partners in a position to effectively defend our interests and uphold the rules of the game that have kept the peace in the Indo-Pacific for a long time,” Sullivan said.
Biden visited his former school, Archmere Academy, on Friday night, where he met with members of the football team fresh off a big win over Newark.
The president sought out the quarterback and threw him a football.
What is it like to be president? a team member asked.
“It’s a lot like being class president,” Biden said. “Just kidding.”
He will return on Saturday afternoon for a meeting with the four leaders, where they will announce a joint plan to fight cancer.
