US President Joe Biden has again taken credit for Japan’s historic 2022 defense budget increase, saying in an interview on Friday that he had urged Tokyo to boost spending.
Biden, in a prime-time interview with ABC News, indicated he wanted to soften the blow of his poor performance in last week’s debates, which raised questions about his re-election campaign. He ran through a series of accomplishments he said he had made under his administration.
“I’m the one who put together NATO, the future — nobody thought I could expand it,” he said. “I’m the one who stopped (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. Nobody thought it could happen. I’m the one who put together the South Pacific Initiative with AUKUS. I’m the one who brought in 50 countries from — not just Europe, but outside — to help Ukraine. I’m the one who made the Japanese grow their budget.”
