The upcoming presidential elections dominated Biden's speech, as he focused on the issues that are of interest to American voters (French)

The upcoming presidential elections dominated US President Joe Biden's annual State of the Union address on Friday morning, in which he touched on several issues, most notably the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and internal issues related to immigrants and the American economy.

Attack on Trump

Biden, who was speaking before a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, opened his speech with a direct criticism of former President Donald Trump, who is on the verge of obtaining the Republican nomination for the presidential elections and is likely to be his rival.

The US President accused his predecessor, Trump, of submitting to Russia, failing to deal with the Corona pandemic during his rule, and covering up the attack on the US Congress building on January 6, 2021.

He also criticized Trump's comments in which he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade other NATO countries if they did not spend more money to improve their defense capabilities.

“Now my predecessor, the former Republican president, is saying to Putin: ‘Do whatever you want.’ And I think that is outrageous, dangerous, and unacceptable,” Biden said.

Biden compared his positions with Trump's positions on many internal American issues, including democracy, the right to abortion, and the economy, and accused Trump and the Republicans of trying to change the narrative regarding the riots that targeted the Congress building in protest against the results of the 2020 presidential elections, in which Biden won over Trump.

The US President criticized Trump's policies and his anti-immigrant rhetoric and said, "I will not demonize immigrants." He also criticized Trump's accusation that immigrants are poisoning the atmosphere in the United States, and the US President called on Congress to reform immigration laws.

Biden (right) launched a scathing attack on Trump, who is likely to compete with him in the presidential elections (Associated Press)

"I will not bow to Putin"

Biden sent a message to the Russian President stressing that the United States would not abandon its ally, Ukraine, and said, "Putin invaded Ukraine and is sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond."

He continued, "If there is someone in this hall who believes that Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you that he will not."

The US President said, "My message to President Putin, whom I have known for a long time, is that we will not back down," and added, "I will not bow down, and history is recorded."

In his annual speech, which is followed by millions of Americans, Biden urged Congress to approve aid to Ukraine in order to confront Putin's ambitions, and accused Trump of submitting to the Russian president.

Demonstrators blocked Biden's path to Congress in protest against the war on Gaza (Anatolia)

A pier on the coast of Gaza

During his speech, Biden touched on the Israeli war on Gaza, especially the humanitarian situation, and said that he was working to reach a truce in Gaza that would last 6 weeks.

Biden described what is happening in Gaza as tragic, and said that more than 30,000 Palestinians, most of whom are not from the Hamas movement, and thousands of them are innocent women and children, were killed in Gaza during the war, stressing that the number of deaths in the current war on the Strip exceeds the number of all those killed in it during the wars. precedent witnessed together.

Biden sent a sharp message to Israeli leaders, asking them not to obstruct humanitarian aid to the Palestinians for political purposes.

He pointed out that the United States is leading international efforts aimed at delivering more humanitarian aid to the Strip.

Biden announced that he would direct the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary naval pier in the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Gaza capable of receiving large ships carrying food, medicine, water, and temporary shelters.

He stressed that there would be no American forces on the ground, and said that this sea pier would allow a huge increase in humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza.

It is noteworthy that Biden's motorcade was forced to take a longer route than usual on its way from the White House to the Congress building, due to the anti-war demonstrations on Gaza that blocked its path.

Protesters supporting Palestine blocked the road leading to the Congress building to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and scattered protests took place across the United States ahead of Biden's State of the Union address, to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies