Joe Biden left the White House nearly a month ago, but he’s never far from Donald Trump’s mind.
The former president has been a recurring punchline – and punching bag – in nearly every appearance Trump has made since returning to power. With Republicans in full control of Washington, Trump is forever in search of a foil and Biden tops the list.
“Much of this stuff is because of Biden,” Trump said last week in the Oval Office, referring to federal employees being allowed to telework. “It’s his fault.”
For Trump, the buck stops with Biden – not with him. It’s a new wrinkle to the sign that sat on Harry Truman’s desk, “The Buck Stops Here,” a phrase has been a guiding principle of most presidents ever since.
The list of challenges that Trump and his team have blamed on Biden is long: the high price of eggs, the crash of an airliner in the Potomac River, mishandled disaster relief from FEMA, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the proliferation of terrorists in Somalia, expanding US trade deficits, a deterioration of relations with Beijing.
“I think Biden is incompetent,” Trump said, calling out his predecessor eight times on Thursday as he blamed him for the Russia-Ukraine war. “I think when he said that they could join NATO, I thought that was a very stupid thing to say.”
Trump’s favorite contrast
While the problems of every presidency are inextricably linked, Biden’s holds an unusual place in history, with his administration sandwiched between Trump’s first and second terms. When Biden took office, he made a point of not mentioning Trump by name, a practice that he dropped as time wore on.
For years, Biden has occupied a singular place in Trump’s mind, aides say, a forever rival whom he never defeated at the ballot box. Trump revels in using Biden as a metaphor for a stark contrast in style and substance.
As Trump settles into his routine of signing executive actions, while fielding a wide range of questions from reporters nearly every day, he called out his predecessor dozens of times last week over Ukraine, illegal immigration and his distaste for paper straws.
“This was all led by Biden and the group of stupid people,” Trump said, blasting Biden’s border policies. He soon moved onto US aid to Ukraine, saying: “Biden gives it because he’s not a smart individual.”
Never mind that Trump made history and became the 47th president by defeating Kamala Harris. He seldom mentions her by name, even as he frequently ticks through the battleground states he carried and the popular vote he won in November.
Instead, Trump returns to the Biden well again and again.
“We’ve done more in two weeks than Biden’s done in five, six years,” Trump declared one afternoon as he sat behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, where Biden – who was president for four years – left a message to wish his successor well, writing: “May God bless you and guide you.”
U.S. President Donald Trump holds former United States President Joe Biden’s letter on the day he signs executive orders for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria Carlos Barria/Reuters
Seldom has a day gone by since Trump’s return to power that he has not invoked Biden’s name – belittling, blaming, badmouthing – over his domestic agenda, foreign policy and more.
At most every turn, Trump points out his former rival’s age (Biden is 82, Trump is 78) and questions his mental acuity, which Trump did again when he said he was revoking Biden’s security clearance and access to daily intelligence briefings.
That decision, which Trump revealed while flying to Mar-a-Lago last weekend, came exactly four years after Biden made the same move against Trump, citing his “erratic behavior” before and after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
“Joe, you’re fired,” Trump said in a message on social media, announcing the move. He ended with his signature slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
