Biden faces a trying week at NATO summit

It’s judgment week for Joe Biden.

Twelve days after an awkward debate performance that may go down as one of the most damaging in modern American history, the president is fighting for political survival under intense scrutiny at home and abroad.

The NATO summit in Washington DC this week may offer at least a temporary reprieve, but it may also be the president’s final stand.

Biden has in recent days lashed out at his critics, claimed he had the mandate of Democratic primary voters and challenged opponents to come forward and try to unseat him.

As he presses ahead in his campaign, he has repeatedly promised that the time for regret and uncertainty is over, and that progress will begin with the NATO summit.

Biden will host allied leaders for three days of meetings and public events and hold a solo news conference on Thursday afternoon.

This should be a comfortable playing field for Biden, who is well-versed in foreign affairs, but it also raises the already high stakes of his presidency, given the domestic and international repercussions of a poor outcome.

A mistake could spark a political uprising within the Democratic Party that could destroy any hope of staying in the polls, let alone winning, the general election in November.

It could also intensify concerns among European allies who, while appreciating Biden’s accomplishments in office, worry about the growing possibility of a Donald Trump presidency and the dramatic foreign policy shift that would accompany it.

“Biden is coming into this week with a lackluster momentum,” said Kristin Bergina, managing director at the German Marshall Fund GeoStrategy North. “It’s unclear how he’ll finish the week.”

Many European leaders are likely concerned about Trump and his foreign policy strategy, given his disdain for multilateral international alliances.

But in the past two weeks, Bergina said, these leaders have experienced something new: anxiety about Biden.

She said that after the president’s shaky performance in the debate, America’s allies were beginning to question whether he was up to the job.

Heading into the NATO summit, they hope to see evidence that Trump’s performance that night was an aberration and not reflective of the new normal.

“It’s worrying to see a close ally, a most important ally, weakened,” Bergina said. “So I think there’s a lot of hope that Biden will get through this. But if he doesn’t live up to expectations, it raises further questions about the credibility of the U.S..”

All eyes will be on the US president as he attends the summit, hosts world leaders at the White House and holds bilateral meetings with key leaders, including newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Even behind closed doors at a NATO meeting, rumors, good or bad, are sure to leak out about Biden’s performance.

Biden faces even tougher challenges at home this week.

The president has cited strengthening and expanding NATO in the face of Russian aggression as one of his main achievements.

This will distinguish his leadership from that of President Trump and any Democratic candidate who might replace him in the election, and the summit will be a chance to demonstrate this to the American people.

“Who can hold NATO together like I can?” the president said in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday, adding that the NATO summit would be a good opportunity to gauge his own capabilities.

“Listen,” he said, “and see what they say.”

But dispelling low expectations at the NATO summit and Thursday’s press conference may not be enough for many politicians, commentators and party activists who are already calling for him to step down.

“Just looking good won’t stop the questions,” said Bill Scheer, a liberal commentator and editor of Washington Monthly, who recently wrote a column urging Biden to step aside and install Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Time was of the essence to forestall all speculation, but they wasted a week. There is no clear way out of this situation.”

Scheer, a longtime Biden ally, said the president is only trying to fight back through media interviews, letters and calls to Democratic politicians after public backlash has solidified.

And once that sentiment is fully established in the polls (which could take several weeks), it will probably be too late to replace him cleanly.

“I understand how painful it can be when you’re nearing the end of your life and you’re no longer functioning as well as you used to,” Scheer said. “To have to accept that in public must be excruciating.”

But increasingly clear data suggests Biden is losing support and faces defeat in November.

Polls show that nearly three-quarters of Americans, and even a majority of Democrats, believe the president should step down. Six Democratic senators have called on him to abandon his candidacy, and many others have offered only equivocal support.

But the president continues to say he will campaign, and the delegates to the national convention have committed to making him the Democratic nominee. The call is up to the president, and if he can get through this week without any major missteps, he may actually be able to weather the immediate storm.

But this week’s story is set in stone: NATO is not celebrating its 75th anniversary and focusing on the challenges ahead.

Instead, this could be the story that determines whether Biden survives politically to enter the next election campaign.