Biden critical of Trump's pressure on Ukraine in 1st post-presidential interview

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FILE - Former US President Joe Biden is seen arriving at the Pope's Funeral at the Vatican in Rome, Italy on 26 April, 2025. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Former President Joe Biden had some strong words to describe what his successor, President Donald Trump, has done since reentering the Oval Office.

In his first post-presidential interview with BBC Radio 4’s "Today" program, Biden said that Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia amounts to "modern-day appeasement," a historically fraught term that refers to a failed effort to stop the Nazis from taking over Europe in the 1930s.

Biden’s 1st post-presidential interview

What they're saying:

"What president ever talks like that?" Biden said. "That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity — not about confiscation."

He also said it was a "difficult decision" to leave the U.S. presidential race in 2024, four months from Election Day to allow former Vice President Kamala Harris to challenge Trump. But, he added, making that move earlier as some critics had suggested "would(n't) have mattered."

Dig deeper:

The term appeasement refers to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s efforts in the 1930s to appease Adolf Hitler’s moves to annex land in Europe, which failed to prevent World War II.

Trump on the war in Ukraine

The backstory:

Trump has long dismissed the war in Ukraine as a waste of lives and American taxpayer money. Early in his presidency, Trump ordered a pause in American aid to Ukraine, then resumed it.

Last week, the two countries signed an agreement granting Americans access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources — a return on investment, Trump suggested, that could pave the way for more U.S. aid.

He has also said that Crimea, a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, "will stay with Russia."

The other side:

Biden said he worried that relations between the U.S. and Europe was eroding under Trump, with NATO member nations reconsidering whether they trust the U.S.

"Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America," Biden told the BBC. The continent’s leaders, he added, were asking: "'Can I rely on the United States? Are they going to be there?'"

Of special concern, Biden said, was the administration's proposal to let Russia keep some Ukrainian territory in an effort to strike a peace deal that would put an end to fighting.

"It is modern-day appeasement," Biden said.

Biden said Trump's thrashing of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February was "beneath America."

Trump argues with Zelenskyy in Oval Office

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sparred during their meeting at the White House to end the Russia-Ukraine War, including Trump telling the Ukraine leader that he's "gambling with World War III."

"I don’t understand how they fail to understand that there’s strength in alliances," Biden said of the Trump administration on Monday.

Asked about Trump's triumphant celebration of his first 100 days in office, Biden replied that he'll let history render the judgment.

"I don’t see anything that was triumphant," he said.