The question yelled at Joe Biden by a reporter was unapologetically blunt: “Who do you think deserves credit for this Mr President: you or [Donald] Trump?”
Biden had just finished announcing what he presented as his signature foreign policy achievement – a ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas to halt the bloody war in Gaza that has left 46,000 Palestinians and 1,700 Israelis dead. He wasn’t in the mood for that debate.
“Is that a joke?” the president asked and then walked away flanked by his vice-president, Kamala Harris, and secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
Success has many fathers. When the ceasefire in Gaza was finally announced on Thursday, they all stood up to take the credit.
Biden said in a press conference that the ceasefire was “developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration”. As he praised his diplomats, he grew wistful: “The Bible says blessed are the peacemakers. Many peacemakers helped make this deal happen.”
But there was little public soul-searching about why the plan he had proposed in May – the exact same plan, as Biden reminded reporters – was finally accepted only days before Trump’s inauguration.
That fact did not escape the attention of President-elect Trump. “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” he said in a post on his social media network, Truth Social.
The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. According to a senior Biden administration official, Trump and Biden’s teams forged an unlikely partnership to secure the complex ceasefire during a transition marked by animosity and distrust.