Journalist’s Notebook: Follow President Biden on his ‘global finale’ to Africa

LUANDA, Angola – This could be emblematic of President Biden’s seemingly ominous trip to Angola.

Due to the war in the Middle East, it has been postponed to 2023.

Delayed again in 2024 due to catastrophic hurricanes in the south.

On the only day of Biden’s first trip to Africa as president, skies cleared and rain poured down, flooding poorly drained streets.

That nearly led to a motorcade of presidents and reporters traveling an hour from the capital, Luanda, to where Biden was speaking at Angola’s National Slavery Museum.

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Of course, within a week of all this happening, other news hit us like a torrent of rain. First, Biden pardoned his son Hunter’s self-harm. A high-level executive in Manhattan is murdered. The collapse of the governments of two of our most important allies. and the ongoing drama surrounding Trump’s cabinet picks.

But as Biden did, he did, not daring to walk up the smooth marble steps to the museum itself, instead standing on a dramatic podium on the Atlantic coast, the sun piercing the dark clouds.

He spoke of the role colonial rulers played in sending thousands of people into slavery, including in the United States. Angola was a major player in the Atlantic slave trade.

“We have a responsibility to confront our history, the good, the bad and the ugly,” Biden said.

But he also spoke of the real reason for his trip – to help stabilize the strategically located southwestern African country of Angola and prepare for the future. By 2050, that is 25 years from now. Africa will become the most populous continent in the world.

“In many ways, Africa’s success will be the success of the world. I said at the 2022 U.S.-Africa Summit that the United States fully supports Africa’s future,” Biden said.

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A poster shows President Biden and Angolan President João Lourenco during a welcome ceremony at the airport in Katumbela, Angola, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In response to the current situation, Biden unexpectedly announced that the United States will provide $1 billion in humanitarian aid to help people displaced by drought and extreme weather in Africa.

Earlier in the day, Biden spoke about the future during a one-on-one meeting with Angolan President Joao Lourenco. One high-profile project is the Lobito Corridor, a $4 billion U.S.-backed rail and infrastructure project that aims to bring critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, as well as agricultural and other industrial goods from Angola. Shipping to Angola port.

Street scene in Luanda, the capital of Angola. (Greg Palcott/Fox News)

“We work together to mobilize more funding, build more infrastructure, and help realize these solutions and help Africa lead,” Biden declared.

Critics deride it as a “too little, too late” attempt to catch up with China, which has been busy launching infrastructure and other projects across Africa for years.

White House national security communications director John Kirby countered in an interview with Fox News. “It’s about them (Angolans) catching up, keeping up and being more involved… in bringing products to market.”

Biden appears to be taking a break from Africa summit in Angola

Greg Palcott’s press credentials include an Angolan Soviet flag. (Greg Palcott/Fox News)

Expected mentions of an expanded U.S. military role in Angola did not materialize. The United States has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to the country. There are new rumors that the United States will establish a base there to counter the increasingly active Russian military presence on the continent.

But the “elephant” lurking in every meeting and gathering is the fact that Biden is now a very lame-duck president, while incoming President-elect Trump never went to Going over to Africa, where he even made derisive comments about some of the countries there, would deal with it all.

The Angolan president said in a recent interview that he would cooperate with any president.

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, President Biden and Angolan President João Lourenco stood and played the national anthem at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In fact, in an interview with Fox News, former Trump Africa envoy J. Peter Pham told us that he believes many projects can survive, especially if China feels the sting.

However, he added, “I do think the new government is going to ask some very tough questions about our investments on the continent, where those investments are going and whether that’s the best return on capital.”

Prosperity and poverty in the capital, Luanda. (Greg Palcott/Fox News)

On the last day of his trip, Biden visited the Lobito Rail Terminal, where the massive project converges. During a roundtable with other district leaders, after he noted that he was a fan of Amtrak, he was seen closing his eyes and putting his head in his hands as if sleeping, as he has for decades on commuter rides Like dozing off.

However, most Angolans seem to believe that the 82-year-old president played his role well in the so-called “global finale”.

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The test will come when we see whether the benefits of these projects trickle down from the super-rich in oil-rich Angola to the mostly young Angolans who are eager to live and breathe life.

“It’s a good thing that an American is coming to Angola,” a Luanda resident told us.

Despite bad timing and bad news elsewhere…many here are holding on to hope.