There’s tons of political news right now, but these days, I sort of pick and choose what to follow and what to care about. Like, Republicans in Congress have completely lost the plot and every single day brings some new disaster, and I just don’t care. The GOP is obsessed with Hunter Biden, who took a plea deal on misdemeanor charges this week, after which President Biden said he still loved his son. Hunter was invited to last night’s state dinner for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the GOP is still crying about that too. So, here are some pics of POTUS & FLOTUS greeting PM Modi Thursday evening. Dr. Biden wore a lovely green Ralph Lauren gown, and apparently the table settings and color scheme for the state dinner were all white, saffron and green, for India’s flag.
Meanwhile, please enjoy this hilarious story from Salt Island- the Brits are really mad at President Biden (again) and this time it’s because he didn’t support their guy for NATO secretary-general:
Joe Biden has done Britain a “bad turn” by blocking Ben Wallace’s run for Nato chief, government sources have said. The Defence Secretary had been the favourite with many member states to succeed Jens Stoltenberg, the current secretary-general, later this year. But Mr Wallace admitted on Wednesday that his ambition to take over the reins, which he had repeatedly expressed in public, is now “not going to happen”.
Allies of Mr Wallace have since told The Telegraph they believe his ambitions were thwarted after the US president refused to endorse his attempt to become the military alliance’s next secretary-general. Government sources have suggested there are now fears the snub may damage the special relationship. It now seems likely that Mr Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian premier, will be asked to defer his retirement, originally set for later this year, by 12 months.
A government source said: “We’re supposed to be their closest ally. And this is what we get.
“It is what it is … but it is bad for UK-US relations. They’ve done the UK a bad turn with their preference for this Danish lady.”The US president is said to have initially favoured Mette Frederiksen, the socialist prime minister of Denmark, who is being backed by France and Germany. But one source said he cooled on her after she failed to impress him during a visit to Washington earlier this month.
Mr Wallace’s candidacy had been popular with members, thanks to his part in the UK’s high-profile role in stiffening Nato’s resolve following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, and Rishi Sunak, the current occupant of No 10, had thrown their weight behind him. However, he was facing an uphill struggle given that European leaders, led by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, are lobbying hard for the next boss to come from an EU state. The Telegraph understands Mr Biden’s decision not to endorse Mr Wallace’s candidacy proved to be the final nail in the coffin and led to the Defence Secretary pulling out of the race. Senior figures in Whitehall felt “badly let down” by the US decision, which they fear has sent out the wrong message to allies by snubbing a candidate from Britain.
It sounds like Wallace didn’t have American, French, German or EU support, so why is Pres. Biden getting all the blame? One of Biden’s biggest strengths is reading the room and understanding which way the wind is blowing – he must have seen that Wallace wouldn’t even get the support a NATO Sec-Gen would need within NATO countries, so Biden shrugged it off.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden with Prime Minister Narendra Modi arriving on the North Portico of the White House ahead of a state dinner. Biden and Modi announced a series of defense and commercial deals designed to improve military and economic ties between their nations during a state visit today. Featuring: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Joe Biden Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jun 2023 Credit: Al Drago/POOL via CNP/startraksphoto.com
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- President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden with Prime Minister Narendra Modi arriving on the North Portico of the White House ahead of a state dinner. Biden and Modi announced a series of defense and commercial deals designed to improve military and economic ties between their nations during a state visit today. Featuring: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, President Joe Biden Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jun 2023 Credit: Al Drago/POOL via CNP/startraksphoto.com
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- President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden with Prime Minister Narendra Modi arriving on the North Portico of the White House ahead of a state dinner. Biden and Modi announced a series of defense and commercial deals designed to improve military and economic ties between their nations during a state visit today. Featuring: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, President Joe Biden Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jun 2023 Credit: Al Drago/POOL via CNP/startraksphoto.com
Dr Jill looks amazing! Wow. Love this.
Wallace is a far Right nut job, no one sane wanted him, so the Tories need to deal with their Brexit failure and stop trying to blame Biden, the Sussexes, and everyone else for their epic disaster.
Hubba hubba! Dr. Jill is a babe and I LOVE everything about this dress.
The racists Brits need to remember they left the EU and the US has other priorities than forcing the EU to make them feel like they are still important. I’m sure they are big mad India is it’s own country with its own relationships too.
So Britian wants a seat at the table….after voting they no longer want a seat at the table. Make it make sense.
Did they think no one around the world paid attention to Brexit.
They voted to leave the EU, not NATO.
Yet they didn’t think voting to leave the EU would have consequences for everything else.
I said what I said.
I’ll say what I say – The UK is a founding member of NATO, ever since 1949, and the security relationships have been in place for much longer than the EU has been in existence. You can assume that the US wants to punish the UK for leaving the EU, but I don’t see why that should be the case.
Seems it’s not just the US though, it’s multiple countries that were not into their candidate.
And yes, the UK lost quite a bit of influence after leaving the EU that works through in other situations as well.
But the point is as UK they don’t have the power to push this candidate on other EU countries that do not want his far right wing stink ruining NATO.
I don’t see anyone suggesting Biden wanted to punish the Brits for Brexit? They punished themselves. That’s the point.
@WiththeAmericann – my point is that the UK’s candidate may have been considered unsuitable whether they stayed in the EU or not.
@eurydice absolutely! That’s why other countries didn’t back Wallace. He’s rather infamous for his blunders. He was big Boris J supporter and worked for him Sec of State for Defense.
In spring 2022 as Russia invaded Ukraine, Johnson suddenly decided against sending the Challenger 2 tank to Ukraine after Wallace had said it “wouldn’t work”.
in a NATO meeting after Turkey’s offensive into Syria, Wallace’s comments were condemned by other delegates after he said, “Turkey needs to do what it sometimes has to do to defend itself”.
How about the time he said the UK “must be prepared to fight wars without the US”
This guy is not cut out for NATO.
Sorry if I misunderstood your point!
I’m completely shocked they didn’t blame Meghan! Wait! Dr. Biden wore GREEN. The Sussexes color preference. It’s a conspiracy!!!
LOL! Quick – someone tell me how many bathrooms the White House has in comparison with Harry and Meghan’s house!
The White House has 32 bathrooms. According to the tabloids, Montecito has anywhere from 14 to 187 bathrooms.
I love when Jill wears her hair up- she looks beautiful.
Dr Biden looked amazing. So did Kamala. Saw pictures of the hall and menu. Very nice.
Vice President Harris is her name.
You gave the correct title to Dr. Biden.
🤦♂️
@May. You white women love to tell on yourselves.
Modi is dressed up. Why would he wear a tuxedo? It’s a US (not even European) way of dressing up. He’s wearing Indian attire.
I agree, he is dressed up. Strange comment imo.
Kaiser is half Indian. I assumed she knew what formal and non formal attire is in their culture.
Yes, every fancy party I have ever been invited to has said something along the lines of “Black tie/white tie, military uniform or national dress.”
That’s what I was thinking! “He IS dressed up, isn’t he? As is custom in his culture.”
Given that the event was black tie, he could have worn a sherwani but he’s wearing a nice version of his daily outfit (kurta, pajama, and vest).
Looking jazzy Jill! Seriously, I think she looks great and she picks just enough outside the box pieces to keep from looking like a boring politician’s wife.
Dr. Jill looks fabulous. I love that dress on her.
She looks terrific!
Beautiful Dr Jill and her gown is ooh la la. She’s always lovely. And of course the brits are criticizing Biden bc that’s what they do, incessant bitching about one thing or another.
Her makeup and hair here look really soft and lovely. They hit the mark perfectly for the tone and gravitas of a state dinner. They aren’t held often and the political implications of this one are kind of a big deal. The US needs to get India to start playing ball with us regarding our stance towards China and India’s role in the pacific with trade partners. Modi is kind of the Indian Trump/Boris Johnson and the fact that he didn’t dress up is kind of a thumbing of the nose at the US.
I agree he is a fascist but he is wearing an appropriately formal outfit that reflects his own culture, and we need not criticize him for that.
Modi is dressed up in his national clothes. That may not suit your case but does not mean he is “thumbing his nose”. Not every culture uses tuxedos as dress up clothes.
Modi’s politics are awful, however he is dressed entirely appropriately for his culture and customs. In fact I’m glad he didn’t capitulate into wearing a tux.
Thank you @ jaded for mentioning Modi’s awful politics. I can’t believe a right wing ultra nationalist who has declared anyone who isn’t a hindu isn’t a citizen anymore and dehumanized the non hindu demographic isn’t the real story.
@Myeh — You’re most welcome. It’s all well and good to be diplomatic at such an event, but you can bet your booties Modi and Biden discussed the blatant bias he has against Muslims.
Let us not forget about caste discrimination as well. We cannot presume that he is, and by all accounts they are not, approaching Modi on his very difficult right-wing, discriminatory and inhumane stances. Indeed, one criticism of this visit is that Biden is NOT discussing these difficult issues with Modi.
I keep hearing over and over again about this “special relationship” we and the UK have. I mean obviously I know that the 13 OG colonies and all that were British and there’s a lot of tourism both ways, and we’ve been Allies in both World Wars, but is the “special relationship” just something used by the politicians as a talking point or does the average person in the UK actually feel some sort of connection to the USA? Because I can tell you I don’t feel one to them, other than a general desire to go there some day as a tourist.
After the way the Brits have treated Meghan, I have no desire to visit that place in any capacity at all. Ever.
I’m with you, @Meredith, when I hear of this “special relationship” I wonder what the backstory is. Can anybody actually explain what it means in 2023?
Is it like the “special relationship” your mom tells you you have with your awful grandparents or your deadbeat brother? Because that’s what it feels like.
Gorgeous gown. I love that shade of green and pretty updo. Dr Biden 🔥 Also feeling that tux on the President, wondering who is the designer.
Dr. Lady Biden looks lovely. The color, the style, the fit is perfect. The Brit press is obsessed with blaming one thing or another on PJB because they think he’s a Harry and Meghan fan boy. He’s just trying to do his job.
I don’t think perfect, it is just a bit too long. I love the color and texture, the whole top half. Comparing what Dr. Biden wears to someone like Camilla who is roughly the same age, such a breath of fresh air.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the conservative British press and conservative American media are in cahoots with each other to make Biden look as bad as possible.
They certainly love to shit on Meghan as a distraction from their own BS, and Biden is too liberal for them as well.
Dr. Jill looks gorgeous and event appropriate as usual. I don’t know if she picks out what she wears or if she has a someone do that for her, but it is right on the mark every time. She wears vibrant colors so well. I’m sure that Prez Joe looks at her every day and thinks damn I’m a lucky man.
Dr. FLOTUS looks lovely, I would choose that gown myself.
Modi is wearing formal Indian attire. He doesn’t have to wear a tuxedo!
The Establishment is angry that Biden won’t kiss up to the Brits like Trump did. And some of these Brits abuse the Special Relationship, thinking they can mistreat Americans and no one would notice.
+1
This.
I also wonder: do Americans talk about ‘the special relationship’ as much as the Brits do or is the UK just one of many allies that they have good relationships with.
Their whining sounds quite silly to me: “We’re supposed to be their closest ally.”
Would be the same as us ranking our allies and basing decisions on that, like: “Sorry Swedish lady, we have to vote for the Finnish lady because she ranks higher in our list of allies” or anything weird like that. We’re allies with both and we’re not making some weird ranking list where we always vote for the one at the top.
Coming from the Brits it sounds like a whiny ex-boyfriend. “But you said we’d always be friends!”
I love the color and I love the style but I don’t care for the fabric. She is beautiful and maybe it’s just these photos but I think the dress isn’t as flattering as it could be – imagine a matte jersey fabric. Or maybe it’s just a little too tight in the midsection. Again, she looks beautiful but I don’t love the fit.
She has a normal senior woman’s body fat redistribution post-menopause. She looks great to me. It’s a really lovely color on her, too.
Beauty and stylishness don’t depend on someone being a model size 4. When you get older your body changes, that’s a fact. I’m 70 and have a figure somewhat like Dr. Biden’s – menopause does that. However like Dr. Biden, I work out 5 days a week, am a healthy weight, and I don’t really care that my waistline isn’t what it was in my younger years. She looks gorgeous.
Dr. Biden looked lovely
” They’ve done the UK a bad turn with their preference for this Danish lady.”
Seriously?
This American lady hopes “this Danish lady” kicks your sexist English ass.
In their arrogance they probably forgot that Denmark is a long-standing ally of the US as well.
Please don’t suggest all Brits or even the majority are right wingers and racists. They aren’t, just as all Americans aren’t MAGA cultists. If Scotland were an independent country – it should be – a right wing government would not have been in power for well over half a century. This ‘salty’ stereotype is overdone. I doubt more than a handful of people know or care about the Wallace issue. Dr Jill looks lovely, a very stylish lady.
We’re both referring to a quote by a government source, so I was referring to the government or perhaps Tories in general not the whole of the UK.
Never mentioned the word ‘salty’. Are you sure you’re responding to right comment?
I hope Scotland gets their independence.
The President and Dr Jill look amazing! I’m so overjoyed that they are leading our country. Both of them were in my small Northern California town last week and it was incredible to see their procession of cars and helicopters!!!
It really warms the heart to see them, good decent people doing their jobs. Very refreshing.
Absolutely love that dress and she looks gorgeous–styling is great as well.
Not much of a Biden fan but he and his wife make such a debonair couple. Breath of fresh air after that orange slob and his sociopathic wife.
FLOTUS is a fashion plate as usual. That gown is stunning on her!
The Bidens look great. Jill is gorgeous!
Dr. Biden has such easy elegance.
That’s a very apt description of FLOTUS, QuiteContrary.
Dr. Jill looked like a million bucks (as usual)!
Lovely First Lady Jill. The First Couple look hot as hell!
They’re still salty that Biden went to Ireland and had a great time instead of visiting them. I wonder if it chafes them that the huge Irish-American diaspora has prospered and now produced two Presidents. I hope it does. Serves them right for colonizing that country and letting millions of people die or flee during the Famine.
Dr. Jill looks gorgeous and POTUS looks dapper as always.
This is the problem in the UK and the US. Instead of acknowledging that the UK person simply wasn’t wanted because of his politics and how that would enter into his position with NATO, the UK blames Biden. We see that here in the US when something happens on the right, the spotlight gets pointed elsewhere. Accountability seems to be a foreign concept to all of them.
All that I can say is, “cry in your beer.”
Isn’t it interesting that the UK brings up the ‘special relationship’ whenever they want something? Yes, we have a special relationship with the UK. We fought two wars to keep them out of the US. That’s pretty special.
She looks just gorgeous! Her best accessory is that radiant smile. 😍
They make such a striking couple all dressed up – love to see it.