From Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 11:25 p.m., updated 45 minutes ago
US President Joe Biden speaks to the press aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / Portal
The White House is reportedly preparing to call for a $100 billion joint envelope for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Joe Biden will address Americans in the Oval Office on Thursday evening, October 19, about the “response of the United States to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and to Russia’s brutal aggression in Ukraine,” his spokeswoman Karine said Wednesday Jean Pierre. This address to the nation is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. local time (Eastern Time, midnight GMT).
The American president visited Israel on Wednesday to reassure the country of his support after the bloody Hamas attack on its soil on October 7. He received the green light from his ally for humanitarian aid to Gaza and assured Egypt of the entry of a convoy of at least 20 trucks to its border.
Back in the United States, he will work to build a political consensus by combining support for Israel with aid for Ukraine. The White House wants to request a joint envelope of $100 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border, according to a source close to the talks interviewed by AFP on Tuesday.
Institutional chaos
Although Joe Biden’s Republican opponents are hesitant about military aid to Ukraine, on the contrary, they are the first to demand strong support for Israel, a firmer stance on immigration and a very firm stance against China. But the Republican president’s ambition could run up against institutional chaos in Congress, which consists of the Senate with a Democratic majority and the House of Representatives under Republican control.
The latter is currently paralyzed by the absence of a “spokesperson” in place. The hard right failed again on Wednesday to appoint one of its own members to this strategic position. This impasse also raises concerns about the risk of paralysis in the state if Congress does not vote on an annual budget before November 17th.
Aware of the risk of fatigue for America’s great ally, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Congress in September to persuade the United States to help him cross “the finish line” in the face of Russia. “We are the United States of America, for God’s sake, the most powerful nation (…) in the history of the world. “We can take care of Ukraine and Israel at the same time,” Joe Biden said Sunday on CBS.