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Biden Tells World Leaders 'It's Not America Alone' Anymore

caption: President-elect Biden takes questions from reporters at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del.
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President-elect Biden takes questions from reporters at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del.
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World leaders continued to reach out to congratulate on Tuesday even as President Trump continues to contest the election results.

Biden said Tuesday that he's already spoken with six world leaders, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland on Tuesday.

"I'm letting them know that America is back," Biden told reporters. "We're going to be back in the game. It's not America alone."

Biden has routinely criticized Trump's "America First" approach to foreign policy. Biden argues the president has hurt the United States by acting unilaterally. Trump had insisted that "'America First' does not mean America alone."

Biden talked to the key allies about working together to confront the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, his campaign said. He talked to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson — a friend of Trump's — about the 2021 G7 summit. And Biden emphasized transatlantic ties, including through NATO, with Johnson, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

Several of the leaders had already issued public congratulations, which are routine for the incoming president-elect of the United States. But this year is anything but routine, given that Trump has yet to concede.

Trump had clashed with leaders like Merkel and Macron because of his transactional approach to international relations, and his decisions to pull out of the multilateral Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, like the leaders of China, Brazil and Mexico have remained silent about Joe Biden's victory in last week's election. [Copyright 2020 NPR]

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