National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed in an interview Sunday that Russia, China and Iran are “weaker” and the United States “safer” after four years of President Biden’s leadership.
“Our alliances are stronger than we found them four years ago,” Sullivan said on CNN's State of the Union, referring to President-elect Trump's first term. “They are stronger than they have been in decades. NATO has been stronger, more purposeful and bigger. Our alliances in the Asia-Pacific region are at an all-time high. Our adversaries and competitors are weaker across the board. Russia is weaker and Iran is weaker.” Weaker, China weaker, and at the same time we kept America out of wars.”
“I think the American people are safer, the country is better off than they were four years ago, and we're turning that over to the next team, as well as getting the engines of American power going,” Sullivan said. “Our economy, our technology, our defense industrial base, and our supply chains. So the United States is in a stronger, more secure position, and our competitors and adversaries are weaker and under pressure.”
Biden's presidency has been mired in… The failure of withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, as the Pentagon monitors the growing threat of Islamic extremism around the world.
Trump-appointed special envoy for Ukraine and Russia sets timeline longer than 24 hours to end war
Much of Trump's promises to voters while campaigning for a second term in 2024 centered on bringing justice to the victims' families. 13 American service members were killed At the monastery gate and the promise of peace through strength on the world stage.
Sullivan defended Biden's handling of the withdrawal on Sunday.
Jake Sullivan during a press conference in the James S. Brady at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“If we're still in Afghanistan today“Americans will be fighting and dying, Russia will have more leverage over us, and we will be less able to respond to the major strategic challenges we face,” Sullivan said.
“We have not seen, despite the ongoing investigation, any connection between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said Striker in New OrleansHe added, referring to the truck ramming attack on Bourbon Street on New Year's Day. “Now the FBI will continue to look for foreign contacts, we may find one, but what we have seen is evidence of what President Biden said.” What has been said is that the terrorist threat has become more widespread and widespread elsewhere, including domestic extremists here in the United States — not just under President Biden, but under President Trump in his first term, and that's part of the reason we have to move our focus from a hot war. in Afghanistan to greater efforts to combat terrorism around the world.”
During the final weeks of his presidency, Biden was rushing billions of dollars in US aid to Ukraine before Trump took office.
Israeli demonstrators take part in weekly anti-government protests demanding a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement on January 11, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Uri Aviram/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the Republican president-elect said the war in Ukraine would never have started under his leadership, and pledged to broker a deal to stop the fighting between Moscow and Kiev.
In a news conference from his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, last week, Trump warned Hamas terrorists that “all hell will break loose” in the Middle East if the remaining hostages are not released before he takes office. January 20.
Regarding the status of the negotiations, Sullivan said: “We are very, very close, and yet being so close still means we are far away because until we actually get to the finish line, we won't get there.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a press conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club on January 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Sullivan stressed that President Biden's senior advisor for Middle East affairs, Brett McGuirk, was in Dougga for a week “to reach with the mediators the final details of the text that will be presented to the two sides.”
“And we remain determined to use every day in office to get this done,” Sullivan said.
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Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to… The Middle EastHe told reporters last week that he saw progress in hostage negotiations, but an agreement must be reached by Inauguration Day. “If these hostages don't come back – I don't want to hurt your negotiations – if they don't come back by the time I take office, all hell will break loose in the Middle East,” Trump said from Florida. He added, “This will not be in the interest of Hamas. It will not be in the interest of anyone, frankly. All hell will break out.”
