Biden’s charm offensive at G7

Biden’s charm offensive at G7

CARBIS BAY, UK: "Everybody in the water!“ President Joe Biden joked to his fellow G7 leaders at a family photo on the beach, underlining an assured transformation in tone from the antagonistic Donald Trump. Where Trump alienated and exasperated, undermining the Western alliance at every turn, Biden declared that "America is back!“ after starting his first foreign tour as president in Britain. US service personnel were standing stiffly to attention in respect for their commander-in-chief as Biden addressed them on Wednesday at an air force base in eastern England.

"Please, at ease,“ he said, urging them to relax. "I keep forgetting I'm president.“ It was hard to imagine such an avuncular line ever coming from Trump, and G7 leaders have been equally at ease in the company of the 78-year-old former senator and vice president. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, one of the few foreign leaders praised by Trump, called Biden "a big breath of fresh air“.

French President Emmanuel Macron, after contesting a years-long battle of wills with Trump, eagerly grabbed Biden by the arm for a good-natured chat after Friday's G7 photo at Carbis Bay in southwest England. With Britain going ahead with the elite club's first in-person summit in