Biden garners big applause from U.S. troops in U.K. with tough talk ahead of Putin meeting

President Biden stirred up a crowd of U.S. troops stationed in the United Kingdom on Wednesday with some tough talk directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he'll meet face-to-face next week.
Biden, who's on his first overseas trip as president, made his way to the U.K. earlier in the day, and he broke down his multi-day agenda for the American soldiers who greeted him at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, telling them he's heading to a Group of Seven meeting in England and then a NATO summit in Brussels. Finally, he said, he'll travel to Switzerland to "meet with Mr. Putin to let him know what I want him to know." That's when the soldiers erupted into cheers.
"At every point along the way, we're gonna make it clear the United States is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges," he continued as the noise died down, re-upping one of his more frequent slogans.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden shed a little more light on his administration's attitude toward the Kremlin, as well, noting "the United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way when the Russian government engages in harmful activities." "I'm going to communicate that there are consequences for ... violating the sovereignty of democracies," he said.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
A little-visited Indian Ocean archipelago
The Week Recommends The paradise of the Union of the Comoros features beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs and lush forests
-
AI: is the bubble about to burst?
In the Spotlight Stock market ever-more reliant on tech stocks whose value relies on assumptions of continued growth and easy financing
-
Crossword: October 19, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
The Baltic ‘bog belt’ plan to protect Europe from Russia
Under the Radar Reviving lost wetland on Nato’s eastern flank would fuse ‘two European priorities that increasingly compete for attention and funding: defence and climate’
-
How should Nato respond to Putin’s incursions?
Today’s big question Russia has breached Nato airspace regularly this month, and nations are primed to respond
-
Russia’s war games and the threat to Nato
In depth Incursion into Poland and Zapad 2025 exercises seen as a test for Europe
-
The mission to demine Ukraine
The Explainer An estimated quarter of the nation – an area the size of England – is contaminated with landmines and unexploded shells from the war
-
Ottawa Treaty: why are Russia's neighbours leaving anti-landmine agreement?
Today's Big Question Ukraine to follow Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as Nato looks to build a new ‘Iron Curtain' of millions of landmines
-
How drone warfare works
The Explainer From Ukraine to Iran, it has become clear that unmanned aircraft are rapidly revolutionising modern warfare
-
How far would Russia go for Iran?
Today's Big Question US air strikes represent an 'embarrassment, provocation and opportunity' all rolled into one for Vladimir Putin
-
Are the UK and Russia already at war?
Today's Big Question Moscow has long been on a 'menacing' war footing with London, says leading UK defence adviser