Biden appears to wobble as he greets King Charles, reviews UK troops

 President Biden’s European trip got off to an unsteady start Monday, as the 80-year-old commander-in-chief appeared to grab on to King Charles III for support seconds after arriving at Windsor Castle.

Video of the greeting between the two men showed Biden punctuate his handshake with the 74-year-old Charles by reaching out to touch the British monarch’s right arm, causing the king to glance down in apparent surprise.

Biden then put his hand on Charles’ back as the two leaders walked to a reviewing stand before greeting some of his majesty’s forces. The president walked with a noticeably stiff gait, which his physician noted in a report from February had worsened since he broke his foot in late 2020.

While initiating contact with a member of the royal family is frowned upon, Buckingham Palace has insisted there are “no obligatory codes of behavior” for meeting a monarch.

At one point during the troop review, Biden paused to chat up one of the Welsh Guards, with the king standing helplessly off to one side and futilely gesturing for the president to follow him.

King Charles tried to rush President Biden through a troop review at Windsor Castle on Monday, as the 80-year-old commander-in-chief paused to chat up one of the Welsh Guards.

AP

The 74-year-old king struggled to get the president to move on once he began inspecting the troops, motioning unsuccessfully a few times for Biden to follow him.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Biden’s visit is his first to the UK since skipping Charles’ coronation in May. There were no visible hard feelings as the president was treated to the royal salute and a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The president sent first lady Jill Biden in his stead to Charles’ crowning ceremony, along with his granddaughter Finnegan.

The heads of state met the day before NATO leaders will gather in Vilnius, Lithuania, for discussions on the alliance and the war in Ukraine.

While British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Washington last month, Biden until this week had failed to make a state visit to the United Kingdom.

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While British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Washington last month, Biden until this week had failed to make a state visit to the United Kingdom.

Biden and Sunak shared a cup of tea at 10 Downing Street earlier Monday as the president affirmed relations between the US and UK were “rock solid” despite persistent rumors of Biden’s anti-UK views.

Sunak replied that their nations were “two of the firmest allies” in NATO and that both were committed to doing “everything we can to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security.”

Biden visited the British monarch for the first time since skipping the king’s coronation in May — and received a royal salute and a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

via REUTERS

The president also unceremoniously placed a hand on Charles’ back as the two stepped around the castle’s quadrangle.

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However, Biden on Sunday had gone further than his British allies in telling CNN’s Fareed Zakaria of “a very difficult decision” to send cluster munitions to Ukraine while stressing it would be “premature” to let the nation join NATO during its war with Russia.

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” he said.

Members of the British Parliament have also criticized Biden for pushing the European Union’s Ursula von der Leyen to be the next head of NATO, instead of UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

The move was widely seen as retaliation for Britain announcing plans to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft without checking with Washington first.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/10/king-charles-and-biden-tour-troops-at-windsor-castle/

Biden quick to anger inside White House, often yells at aides: report

 Call him Old Yeller.

President Biden has displayed a hair-trigger temper with aides behind closed doors and is known for cursing out White House staffers, according to a new report — the latest to contradict the octogenarian’s carefully cultivated image as a folksy, kindly grandfather.

Current and former Biden aides told Axios the 80-year-old president has hurled insults such as “God dammit, how the f–- don’t you know this?!,” “Don’t f–-ing bulls— me!” and “Get the f–- out of here!”

Some say they are so fearful of the president’s wrath that they bring along colleagues to meetings as a kind of shield against Biden’s paint-stripping language.

“No one is safe,” not even senior aides, one administration official told the outlet.

In one particularly memorable exchange, Biden bore down on then-COVID czar and current White House chief of staff Jeff Zients in late 2021 for bungling the testing kit rollout for the Omicron variant.

President Biden has displayed a quick temper with aides inside the White House and even cursed several out, according to a new report.

REUTERS

The commander-in-chief will also angrily question West Wing staffers in an attempt to “stump” them, prodding them to brief him on topics in a conversational way that some have dubbed “speaking Biden.”

“If there is something that’s not in the brief, he’s going to find it,” Ted Kaufman, Biden’s chief of staff from his time as a US senator, told the outlet. “It’s not to embarrass people, it’s because he wants to get to the right decision. Most people who have worked for him like the fact that he challenges them and gets them to a better decision.”

“There’s no question that the Biden temper is for real,” added Chris Whipple, author of “The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House.” “It may not be as volcanic as Bill Clinton’s, but it’s definitely there.”

“God dammit, how the f–k don’t you know this?!,” “Don’t f–king bulls–t me!” and “Get the f–k out of here!,” the president has reportedly said to aides.

AP

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC host, was quoted in Whipple’s book as telling Biden, “I know we have a really good, trusting relationship when you yell at me the first time.” The author noted that Psaki “wouldn’t have to wait long.”

Jeff Connaughton, Kaufman’s ex-chief of staff and a former Biden campaign aide, called the now-president an “egomaniacal autocrat” who was “determined to manage his staff through fear” in his 2012 book “The Payoff: Why Wall Street Wins.”

Connaughton reported in the book that Biden shouted at one aide to “Get the f–k out of the car” during his 2008 presidential campaign after the staffer told him it was “time to do some fundraising calls.”

Current and former Biden aides told Axios the 80-year-old president has hurled insults.

AFP via Getty Images

Biden apparently shouted at one aide to “Get the f–k out of the car” during a campaign ride in the 2008 presidential campaign after the staffer asked to do fundraising calls.

AFP via Getty Images

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden reportedly flew into a rage last year when discussing his age with an acquaintance ahead of his re-election campaign launch, saying, “You think I don’t know how f—ing old I am?”

The president has lashed out at The Post when questioned about his alleged involvement in his son’s foreign business affairs — and once was caught on a hot mic calling Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a bitch.”

Biden reportedly flew into a rage last year when discussing his age with an acquaintance, saying, “You think I don’t know how f—ing old I am?”

AP
A Politico report from 2021 also noted the president’s frequent use of profanity, favoring “f—” and “bulls—” in West Wing meetings — even while trying to watch his words around women.

During his time as vice president, Biden’s big mouth also came to the fore — most notably in 2010 when he was overheard telling President Barack Obama that the Affordable Care Act was a “big f—king deal.”

https://nypost.com/2023/07/10/biden-has-quick-temper-inside-white-house-report/