President Joe Biden is expected to order an end to American support for offensive operations in Yemen in his first visit to the State Department on Thursday, part of the new leader's effort to reverse the foreign policy posture of his predecessor, NBC reports.
Former President Donald Trump, who frequently touted an "America First" approach to interacting with the world, vetoed a bipartisan resolution in 2019 calling on the U.S. to end involvement in Yemen. Trump's decision was largely seen as an effort to side with Saudi Arabia, who the former president courted to purchase U.S. weapons.
Trump was a frequent critic of the State Department and his first secretary, Rex Tillerson, was seen as dismantling the agency and hollowing out the ranks of career employees.
"Over the past two weeks, I’ve spoken with the leaders of many of our closest friends — Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, NATO, Japan, South Korea, and Australia — to begin re-forming the habits of cooperation and rebuilding the muscles of democratic alliances that have atrophied from four years of neglect and abuse," Biden plans to say, according to excerpts of his speech released beforehand.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that it was "not an accident that he has chosen the State Department as the venue for these first remarks," adding that Biden "wants to send a clear message that our national security strategy will lead with diplomacy."
Biden is also expected to announce that Tim Lenderking has been tapped to be the U.S. envoy to Yemen, a source familiar with the decision tells NBC News, placing a longtime career diplomat in an important senior position as the US announces an end to American support for offensive operations there.
