TOPLINE: Today, President Biden was the fifth U.S. President to meet with Vladimir Putin. While Biden may tout a position of strength, his actions and executive orders have resulted in concessions to Russia and weakened the United States’ power and influence on the world stage.

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Putin Cannot Be Trusted   Before President Joe Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, President Biden suggested to a room full of reporters that he trusted Vladimir Putin.     The Wall Street Journal reports:   “As reporters were brought into the room where Messrs. Biden and Putin were meeting, a U.S. journalist asked whether the two men trusted each other. Mr. Biden looked at the reporter and nodded.”   The scene was so bad, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had to clarify Biden’s actions before the President could do so himself.   “During a chaotic free for all with members of the press shouting questions over each other, the President gave a general head nod in the direction of the media. He wasn’t responding to any question or anything other than the chaos,” Psaki said in a statement.   If President Biden can’t handle a simple yes or no question from a reporter, how can the American people rely on Biden to confront one of the United States’ greatest adversaries?   After his meeting with Putin, CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked Biden how he could be confident that Putin would “change his behavior” given Putin's denial of human rights abuses against Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and his refusal to take responsibility for the Russian cyber attacks on the United States.   Biden snapped back, “I’m not confident he’s going to change his behavior. What the hell? … when did I say I was confident?”  Biden followed up, “Look, let’s get it straight. What I said was what will change his behavior if the rest of the world reacts to him and diminishes his standing in the world."     Bloomberg News' Jennifer Jacobs reported that Biden complained about the press' negative coverage of his meeting with Putin.     President Biden’s rhetoric and quips are not sufficient to stand up to Putin. Since he took office, Biden has only conveyed weakness through numerous concessions to Putin and failure to hold Russia accountable for cyberattacks from Russia.

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To Biden, Russian Jobs Are More Important than America’s Energy Security   On May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Co. suffered from a cybersecurity attack that forced offline the 5,500-mile pipeline transporting fuel all along the East Coast.   A criminal group originating from Russia named "DarkSide" was responsible for the ransomware cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline.     The rising concerns over fuel supply highlight the need to make a more secure energy future possible. However, on his first day in office, President Biden revoked an essential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and reversed other executive orders aimed at streamlining the federal permitting process for critical infrastructure projects.   The Keystone XL pipeline would have created thousands of jobs, helped maintain the United States’ global dominance, and transport oil from Canada, an ally and one of the world’s cleanest oil producers, to U.S. refineries.     President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline but allowed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Germany and Russia days after Russian criminals hacked the Colonial Pipeline.     Why would President Biden choose to eliminate American energy jobs and American pipelines but favor Russian jobs, Russian pipelines, and Russian dominance over our allies?   Speaking to Fox News, Whip Scalise called on President Biden to stand up to Vladimir Putin.  

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Biden’s Reduces Pentagon Budget When We Need It the Most   While President Biden has indicated that he intends to challenge Vladimir Putin on Russia’s election interference, Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine, and suppressing his dissenters, how can the Kremlin, other geopolitical rivals, and our allies, take the United States seriously when it inadequately funds its Department of Defense?     While the White House is prioritizing its trillion-dollar non-infrastructure package, President Biden’s $715 billion Pentagon budget for Fiscal Year 2022 does not go far enough. Instead, Biden’s budget effectively flatlines defense spending and neglects investing in key priorities to ensure our military can address threats from our adversaries.     If President Biden is going to credibly rebuke Putin’s inauthentic claim that Russia deserves to be treated on equal footing in the free world, the United States must show strength, leadership, and the ability to defend itself and its allies from all threats and enemies.

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