The Daily - Biden’s Cabinet Picks, Part 2: Antony Blinken

What kind of foreign policy is possible for the United States after four years of isolationism under President Trump? Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of state, has an interventionist streak, but some vestiges of Trump-era foreign policy will be hard to upend. If confirmed, Mr. Blinken faces the challenge of making the case at home that taking a fuller role abroad is important, while persuading international allies that the United States can be counted on. What course is he likely to steer through that narrow channel? Guest: David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times. We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here. Background reading: Mr. Blinken’s extensive foreign policy credentials are expected to help calm American diplomats and global leaders after four years of the Trump administration’s ricocheting strategies and nationalist swaggering.European allies of the United States have welcomed a president who doesn’t see them as rivals. But with the possibility of a Republican-controlled Senate, they are also wary.Mr. Biden wants to reactivate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the killing of the top nuclear scientist in the Middle Eastern nation, which Tehran has blamed on Israel, could complicate that aim. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Duration: 28m
Broadcast on: 02 Dec 2020
Audio Format: other

What kind of foreign policy is possible for the United States after four years of isolationism under President Trump?

Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of state, has an interventionist streak, but some vestiges of Trump-era foreign policy will be hard to upend.

If confirmed, Mr. Blinken faces the challenge of making the case at home that taking a fuller role abroad is important, while persuading international allies that the United States can be counted on.

What course is he likely to steer through that narrow channel?

Guest: David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: nytimes.com/thedailysurvey

For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Read the latest edition here.

Background reading:

Mr. Blinken’s extensive foreign policy credentials are expected to help calm American diplomats and global leaders after four years of the Trump administration’s ricocheting strategies and nationalist swaggering.
European allies of the United States have welcomed a president who doesn’t see them as rivals. But with the possibility of a Republican-controlled Senate, they are also wary.
Mr. Biden wants to reactivate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the killing of the top nuclear scientist in the Middle Eastern nation, which Tehran has blamed on Israel, could complicate that aim.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

this podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love, and a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. From the New York Times, I'm Michael Obaro. This is a daily. Today, I'm pleased to announce nominations and staff for critical foreign policy national security positions in my administration. Today, it's a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it. Part two of our look at the cabinet of President-elect Joe Biden. David Sanger on Biden's nominee for Secretary of State. I've seen him in action. Tony is ready on day one. And what kind of foreign policy is possible after four years of American isolationism? It's Wednesday, December 2nd. David, I want to start by asking you the same question I asked our colleague, Gina Smilik, about Joe Biden's selection of his treasury secretary. And of course, we're going to be talking about his choice of Secretary of State. How important is the role of the Secretary of State going to be, do you think, in this incoming administration? Well, historically and constitutionally, Michael, Secretary of State's always been the most important cabinet post after the president and the vice president and the first cabinet member who's in line for the presidency. But it's particularly critical right now, because Joe Biden is going to be consumed in his first six months by COVID-19, by domestic imperatives, and yet the world's given us up for dead. And so the Secretary of State is going to have to show that America is back, that America cares about allies, and that America is ready to lead. And the Secretary of State is the chief spokesperson for the president around the world. And of course, it has to be somebody who the rest of the world thinks really is in sync with the president. Somebody who the rest of the world believes literally speaks word for word for the president. The most powerful secretaries of state in recent times have been those who no one doubted had a relationship with the president that was so close that when the Secretary spoke, it was like the president speaking. And Joe Biden has picked in Tony Blinken, somebody who has been with him for 20 years, who can finish his sentences, who Biden once said could do any job in his administration. And they will know that when Blinken speaks, they might as well be listening to Biden. So I want to get to this extremely close relationship between Biden and Blinken, but I want to start with the backstory of Tony Blinken. He's not a household name like the Secretary of State that you just mentioned. And I wonder where his story starts. Mr. President-elect, Vice President-elect Harris, thank you for your trust and your confidence. He's not a household name, though he's known well in Washington and foreign policy circles, but he's got this very rich backstory. For my family, as for so many generations of Americans, America has literally been the last best hope on Earth. And actually, Blinken told a little bit of the story when President-elect Biden formally announced his nomination as Secretary of State. My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia and made a new life in America. His son, my father, Donald Blinken, served in the United States Air Force during World War II, and then as a United States ambassador. Born in New York, parents divorced when he was about eight years old. And he moved to Paris where his new stepfather is a very well-known lawyer. And my late stepfather, Samuel Pizarro. But had been a survivor of concentration camps. He was one of 900 children in his school in Bialda Stock Poland, but the only one to survive the Holocaust after four years in concentration camps. He was a Jewish kid whose entire town had been swept up by the Nazis. At the end of the war, he made a break from a death march into the woods and Bavaria. From his hiding place, he heard a deep rumbling sound. It was a tank, but instead of the iron cross, he saw painted on its side a five-pointed white star. He ran to the tank. The hatch opened. An African-American GI looked down at him. He got down on his knees and said the only three words that he knew in the English that his mother

Transcription truncated.