President Joe Biden said an “all-out war” in the Middle East is “possible” amid escalating attacks between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days that have killed hundreds in Lebanon, according to local officials.
At the same time, the president expressed optimism that there is still time for a “settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.”
Biden’s comments came during a live studio interview with ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday morning in New York, where the president is taking part in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Biden is the first sitting president to appear live on the show, and the second sitting president overall to appear after his former boss, Barack Obama, did so in 2010.
The wide-ranging interview also touched on Biden’s predecessor and current GOP nominee for president, former President Donald Trump, Biden’s vice president and current Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris, his decision to drop out of the 2024 race and his legacy.
The interview and the convening of world leaders at the United Nations comes as the Middle East has seen a surge in violence between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, escalating and bringing a new urgency to longstanding concerns that the war in Gaza could expand into a wider regional conflict.
“One of the things that I found is that the Arab world very much wants to have a settlement because they know what it does for them,” Biden said. “They are willing to make arrangements with Israel – alliances with Israel – if Israel changes some policies.”
He added that he is using “every bit of energy” to get this done with his team. The president often says he believes the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia that the U.S. was helping to forge – seemingly imminent at the time – was an impetus for Hamas to attack on Oct. 7.
Biden went on to reiterate his long-standing position that there needs to be a two-state solution that would establish both an Israeli state and a Palestinian state, a concept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.
The president retold a story about signing a picture for Netanyahu early in his career. “Bibi, I love you but don’t agree with a damn thing you say or do,” Biden recalled writing, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, Bibi.
“I don’t agree with his position, there needs to be a two-state solution,” Biden said.
Biden on Wednesday also discussed his decision to drop his bid for reelection in mid-July following his debate against Trump in June that led to weeks of pressure from those in his own party pushing the incumbent president to exit the race.
The president said he “never fully believed the assertions” that there was an “overwhelming reluctance” to him running again.
“I didn’t sense that,” he said, adding the polling he was looking at showed he was within range of beating Trump.
“There were some folks who would like to see me step aside so they have a chance to move on,” Biden, who is 81 years old, said. “I get that, that's just human nature, but that wasn’t the reason I stepped down.”
The president said he is “confident” he would have defeated the former president again if he stayed in the race.
“He’s a loser,” Biden added.
He also went on to call his one-time Republican rival “unusual,” say he has no “social redeeming value” and assert that he does not believe in democracy. He added that the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 – the day Trump supporters stormed the building to interrupt the certification of Biden’s election win – was “absolutely bizarre.”
Harris’ campaign has leaned into using words like “weird” to describe Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance as opposed to more existential terms that were frequently used by the Biden campaign.
Biden also insinuated that world leaders “no matter what their politics are” having been expressing concerns to him that Trump could be reelected.
He praised his vice president as “bright,” “tough” and “honorable,” touting what he called her “optimistic view of the future.”
“As vice president, there wasn’t a single thing that I did that she couldn’t do,” Biden said. “So I was able to delegate her responsibility on everything form foreign policy to domestic policy.”
As for his own legacy, Biden said he wants to be remembered for being “honest,” “straight-up” and being driven by the notion that “all politics is personal.”
He noted he still had a lot he wanted to do on domestic and foreign policy at University of Delaware's Biden Institute and the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
“I’m not going away,” he added.
Biden sported a pin on his suit jacket with an American and Ukrainian flag during the interview. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday morning and Biden is set to meet with him at the White House on Thursday as the country continues to fend off Russia’s invasion.