Founding Father John Adams wrote that "facts are stubborn things.” Armed with facts, it is essential to correct the record regardingFinancial Timesjournalist Demetri Sevastopulo’s 31 January published interview with Biden administration’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Sullivan attempts to explain away the Biden administration’s failures, but the stubborn facts of the disastrous Biden national security policy cannot be ignored. I focus on five of the most salient Sullivan made in the interview.
First, the "new Washington consensus” touted by Sullivan as a boon for the American middle class is anything but an aid to them. It was Biden’s effort to continue the failed globalist approach of engagement with the PRC. That is, foolishly believing that engaging with Beijing would change its behavior. Biden continued engagement under the name "new Washington consensus,” whereby U.S. continued its support for the economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and thus the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the existential foe of the U.S. The "new Washington consensus” remains centered on rewarding globalism at the expense of the American economy and workforce and so continues to undermine the American middle and working classes. These policies, it must be noted, enriched the Biden family, as Chairman James Comer’s investigation has revealed. In fact, only the first Trump administration reversed course to augment the security of the United States. In contrast to what Sullivan contends, a full-scale decoupling would be devastating for the CCP at a time when they are supremely vulnerable.
Second, Sullivan notes that he was "taken by complete surprise” at Biden’s obvious and dangerous mental decline, stating that "it was not at all consistent with my experience.” The Biden administration inflicted one of the greatest national security risks in the history of the U.S. Adversaries in Moscow and Beijing took advantage of a weak and enfeebled president. This demands accountability regarding who was in control of the U.S. government. The families of the 13 U.S. servicemembers killed in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan deserve an answer.
Third, Sullivan relates that he is proud that he created a situation where "the core engines of American power are humming.” In fact, the Biden administration did what it could to weaken those "core engines,” by continuing to make the PRC stronger through trade and investment in the PRC, not halting intellectual property theft and cyber attacks most recently against the U.S. Treasury and "Salt Typhoon,” perhaps the most damaging cyber penetration in U.S. history. Moreover, DeepSeek stunned Silicon Valley and the U.S. national security community by revealing a Sputnik Moment. DeepSeek shows that Biden administration was asleep while the PRC was making great progress in Artificial Intelligence, the key technology of the 21stCentury.
Fourth, Sullivan touts the Biden’s administration’s China policy, claiming that the U.S. is in a "better position in the long-range competition with China than we were.” In fact, the Biden administration weakened support for our partners like Taiwan and allies like the Republic of the Philippines that faces the PRC’s aggression at Sabina Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal, and elsewhere. In 2023, Biden cancelled a trip to Australia to address the Australian Parliament, where he would also have met Indian Prime Minister Modi, for reasons that were never fully explained, and to the great embarrassment of our Australian allies. Also in 2023, the PRC’s spy balloon floated over U.S. soil for many days, reportedly changing course indicating it was under control. But Sullivan implies that it was not. Additionally, Sullivan himself stated that the PRC is "undertaking the largest peacetime military build-up in human history.” Indeed, during Biden’s presidency, two commanders of U.S. Strategic Command have noted that the PRC’s nuclear expansion has been "breathtaking.” Yet, Biden’s response was not to redouble U.S. conventional and military might, but to continue to engage with the PRC, which actually funds the PRC’s military expansion and sustains the CCP’s tyranny.
Furthermore, the PRC’s leader Xi Jinping encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine and has offered, at a minimum, economic and diplomatic support to sustain Russia’s war while Xi labors to solidifying a bloc of the PRC, Russia, North Korea, and Iran to threaten U.S. interests. At the same time, Xi is committing gross human rights abuse throughout the PRC, including genocide against the Muslim peoples of Xinjiang.
Fifth, Sullivan’s remarks on Ukraine centered on what the Trump administration should do rather than how the Biden administration failed to deter the aggression or to pressure the PRC to end its support for Moscow. On Iran, Sullivan views it as the weakest now that it has been since 1988. This is at a time when there are reports it is a half-step from having nuclear weapons. Sullivan’s discussion of Gaza underplays the great pressure Biden placed on Israeli leader Netanyahu, which hindered Israel’s response to the great threats it faces in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and against the Houthis in Yemen.
Tellingly, two of the most acute national security threats, Biden’s open border and the fentanyl epidemic, were not mentioned in the interview.
The Biden administration was the worst in U.S. history. The interview is a paltering exercise. Sullivan can attempt to elide and dissemble the empirical record of the Biden administration, but the facts are stubborn things and cannot be ignored. Accountability is needed for the strategic errors of the Biden administration. Under the leadership of President Trump, the U.S. is correcting Biden’s terrible mistakes through policies based on "peace through strength” for the benefit of the American people and U.S. national security.
Bradley A. Thayer is a Contributing Columnist for Warroom and is the coauthor with James R. Fanell ofEmbracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure. Find him on Gettr and Truth as @bradleythayer and as @bradthayer on X. His opinions are his own.
© 2023 WarRoom
© 2023 WarRoom
