The President Joe Biden will deliver his final Oval Office speech on Wednesday as he prepares to hand over power to President-elect Donald Trump and exit politics after a decade-long career.
Biden is giving his farewell speech to the nation in the early hours. It will start at 20:00.
Biden leaves the White House after four years with a complex legacy filled with Trump’s historic returns to Washington.
The speech comes five days before Trump’s inauguration. Biden will attend as his successor is sworn in, restoring a democratic tradition that Trump himself set aside in 2021.
In a letter released Wednesday morning, Biden reflected on where his administration began under the shadow of COVID and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
“I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. Our very nature was at stake. And it still is,” he said as he reflected on his time in office.
Biden has taken time in the final weeks of his administration to try to cement his legacy.
In remarks at the State Department on Monday, Biden asserted that the US was better positioned globally and with its key partners now than it was during Trump’s first term.
“A new challenge will certainly arise in the coming months and years,” Biden said. “But even so, it’s clear that my administration will leave the next administration with a very strong hand, and we’re leaving them and America with more friends and stronger alliances, with weaker adversaries and under pressure.”
President Joe Biden waits to speak on foreign policy at the State Department in Washington on January 13, 2025.
Susan Walsh/AP
Biden specifically denounced his administration’s support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion and steps taken to contain Iran. He also advocated the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, although the chaos that accompanied the withdrawal overshadowed his presidency.
Last Friday, after closing his presidency with another one positive jobs reportBiden said he believed he was leaving behind an economy that was “stronger than ever.”
Biden also talked about key legislation he credited with helping the economy recover: the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief bill that provided Americans with stimulus checks and billions in aid for small businesses; The Inflation Reduction Act, a massive climate, health and tax law; and the CHIPS Act, a multibillion dollar bill to encourage home computer chip manufacturing.
But high inflation early in his tenure, along with high interest rates, fueled deep economic discord that affected his own re-election bid and later Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign against Trump.
Biden was asked at the event if he regretted his decision to drop out of the race.
“I think I could beat Trump, I think Trump could beat and I think Kamala could beat Trump,” Biden said, adding that the decision to step aside was made to help unify the Democratic Party.
In fact, the last time Biden spoke to Americans was behind the Resolute table It was in July 2024 at the end of the bid for the second term. Then, surrounded by family members, he said being commander-in-chief was the honor of his life, but it was time to “pass the torch” to the next generation.
Biden, 82, is leaving Washington after arriving on the scene in 1972 as one of the nation’s youngest senators. After 36 years on Capitol Hill, he became Vice President of the United States in 2008 when Americans elected Barack Obama.
Then, in 2020, Biden reached the pinnacle of American political power when he won the Democratic nomination after two failed attempts and defeated Trump in the general election.
Asked what to expect from him after his presidency ends recently, Biden smiled and said he wouldn’t be quiet.
“I’m not going to be out of sight or out of mind,” Biden said.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
