By Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Reporting from the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro

Nov. 19, 2024

World leaders at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro were discussing plans to confront poverty and war when President Biden acknowledged the obvious — this was most likely his last time attending such an elite meeting.

“This is my last G20 summit,” Mr. Biden said on Monday. “We’ve made progress together, but I urge you to keep going — and I’m sure you will, regardless of my urging or not.”

Mr. Biden appeared to be right — the presidents and prime ministers who had gathered in Brazil for talks on Monday and Tuesday at the Group of 20 summit were ready to move on without him.

In some cases, literally.

Hours later, as leaders gathered under the backdrop of Rio’s Sugarloaf Mountain to commemorate the summit, Mr. Biden was chatting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada near a palm tree.

Other leaders were smiling and waving to cameras for the customary “family photograph.” By the time Mr. Biden made it over to a platform for the photograph, the leaders were already on their way out.

The president was not in the group portrait.

The final summit of Mr. Biden’s presidency was one of his last opportunities to lobby for his vision of the world, even as many world leaders shift their attention to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

He had been both nostalgic and reflective with allies and rivals, while remaining just a few steps behind his peers as he embraced his final days in the global spotlight.

The photograph snafu, which White House officials attributed to logistical issues, was not the first time Mr. Biden was running late.

During the first leg of his Latin America tour, at an Asia-Pacific economic meeting in Lima, Peru, Mr. Biden left other leaders who had gathered on a stage waiting for five awkward minutes. Those already there kept glancing around to see if the American president was going to join them.

By the time he settled into his spot in a back corner, sandwiched between the leaders of Thailand and Vietnam, Mr. Biden appeared to embrace the moment.

He slowly looked from side to side before exchanging a playful shrug with the prime minister of Malaysia.

It was Xi Jinping, the president of China and one of Mr. Biden’s chief global rivals, who commanded the position in front and at the center of the stage next to the summit’s host, President Dina Boluarte of Peru. (The placement of guest leaders was in alphabetical order by country.)

One of the more high-stakes moments of Mr. Biden’s trip was a meeting on Saturday with Mr. Xi at the hotel where the Chinese leader was staying.

It was also the only time at either summit that a president who has a history of verbal miscues and has largely avoided news interviews answered any questions. Asked how he would work with China to handle North Korea, Mr. Biden simply said, “Peacefully.”

When a reporter shouted questions about Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden turned his back and walked with Mr. Xi into their meeting.

As they sat across from each other, Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi shared a moment of levity.

“Can you put on your earpiece?” Mr. Xi told his counterpart. “We have simultaneous interpreting.”

“I’ve learned to speak Chinese,” Mr. Biden joked, adding, “Wish I did.”

They then proceeded with their discussion on matters of great importance, including Taiwan and the contested South China Sea, as well as the growing economic competition between the two superpowers.

But they also paused to reminisce.

When their meeting ended, they set aside their notes, Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told reporters later.

They then reflected, Mr. Sullivan said, on “the fact that they’ve known each other for quite a long time now, that they have worked together closely, that they obviously haven’t always seen eye to eye, but they’ve always been straight with one another.”

Mr. Biden appeared more relaxed a day later, on Sunday, when he landed in Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, under a scorching sun, wearing bluejeans, a navy shirt and aviator glasses.

After climbing aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One, he flew over the Rio Negro and the murky brown waters of the Amazon River.

Joined by his daughter, Ashley, and his granddaughter, Natalie, Mr. Biden was greeted with a traditional Indigenous ceremony. Three Indigenous leaders held maracas filled with seeds native to the rainforest and shook them to the rhythm of an ancestral chant.

Mr. Biden then went on a brief exploration in the forest, walking over ant hills before delivering a speech on the importance of combating climate change.

“It’s true that some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America,” Mr. Biden said. “But nobody — nobody — can reverse. Nobody.”

Back in Rio on Tuesday, world leaders gathered for another group photo — this time ensuring that Mr. Biden would be in the picture.

Asked why the leaders had not waited for Mr. Biden the first time, Paulo Pimenta, Brazil’s minister of communications, said Brazilians prioritized punctuality.

“When it’s time, it’s time,” Mr. Pimenta said on Tuesday.

Mr. Biden took part in one more meeting on climate change on Tuesday, pleading with leaders to take the crisis seriously.

“History is watching us,” said Mr. Biden, who turns 82 on Wednesday. “I urge us to keep the faith and keep going.”

“I have much more to say,” he said, before reconsidering. “I’m not going to.”

Ana Ionova contributed reporting from Manaus, Brazil.

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