- READ MORE: Biden hosts world leaders at his lake house for summit
As President Joe Biden nears his end of term, he is bringing a very personal touch to diplomacy during one of his final major summits.
Breaking with the usual courtesies, he has banned the press from reporting on his personal meetings with world leaders and uses his lakeside home in Delaware to host the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described how Australian leader Anthony Albanese was given a tour of Biden’s home on Friday night.
But he didn’t know if the president would get the chance to show off his pride and joy: a 1967 Corvette Stingray.
“The atmosphere was as if two men, one in the other’s home, were talking broadly about how they saw the state of the world. They traded some stories about their respective political careers and talked about the history of the US-Australia alliance,” he told reporters.
President Joe Biden has not allowed the media to cover his bilateral meetings with world leaders at his home. But he is seen here with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in images posted to their Twitter accounts
“It felt a bit like someone dropping by for a cup of coffee or a meal.”
The leaders have come to Wilmington, Delaware, for a meeting of the Quad, a four-nation alliance aimed at focusing attention on the Indo-Pacific region and countering growing Chinese aggression.
“You’ve heard the president say many times that all politics and all diplomacy is personal,” Sullivan said ahead of Saturday’s meeting.
“And developing personal relationships is at the heart of his approach to foreign policy as president. So opening his home to the leaders of India, Japan and Australia is a way of showing, not just saying, that these leaders matter to him.”
He said no other Biden family members were present.
“He did get a little tour of the house,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think he saw the Corvette.”
Not only will journalists be kept away from the one-on-one interviews, as they watch SUVs with tinted windows drive in and out of the driveway, there will also be no press conference after the summit.
However, leaders are expected to announce plans to enhance maritime security in the region – including improved cooperation with the coast guard – and prepare aid for humanitarian response missions.
The measures are intended to counter an increasingly assertive China.
Biden pretends to throw a pass while visiting members of the football team at Archmere Academy, his former school and site of the upcoming Quad Summit in Claymont, Delaware
Biden points out the lake to Albanese while giving him a tour of his home
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters that Albanese was given a tour of his home but was unsure whether he would see the president’s 67 Corvette Stingray
“We are of course concerned about the actions that China has taken, and we are open about them. But we are also enabling the United States and our allies and partners to effectively defend our interests and uphold the rules of the road that have long kept the peace in the Indo-Pacific,” Sullivan said.
On Friday evening, Biden visited his old school, Archmere Academy, where he met members of the football team, which had just won a big victory over Newark.
The president found the quarterback and tossed him a football.
What’s it like to be president, a team member asked.
“It’s kind of like being class president,” Biden said. “Just kidding.”
He will return on Saturday afternoon for a meeting with all four leaders, where they will announce a joint plan to combat cancer.
