Joe Biden has canceled his visit to Australia due to the US debt ceiling crisis.

Key points
  • US President Joe Biden has canceled a visit to Australia scheduled for next week.
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the visit would be rescheduled as soon as possible.
US President Joe Biden’s scheduled visit to Australia next week has been cancelled.
The leaders of Australia, the US, Japan and India were due to meet in Sydney on 24 May for a quadripartite meeting.
The day before, Mr. Biden was scheduled to address the federal parliament in Canberra.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he received a phone call from Mr. Biden early Wednesday.
“The President has apologized that he will now have to postpone this visit due to the ongoing difficulties he is facing in negotiations with the US Congress on the US national debt ceiling,” Albanese said.

“These negotiations should enter their critical and final phase in the last week of May.

Biden overseas

This would be the first visit by a US President to Australia in nearly a decade and the fifth time a US President has addressed MPs and Senators. Source: AP / Evan Vucci

“Unfortunately, this is at odds with the president’s visits to Sydney and Canberra, including the Quad summit scheduled for May 24.”

In a statement released by the US Embassy in Australia, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said Mr. Biden will return to the US on Sunday after the G7 summit concludes.
“The President spoke to Prime Minister Albanese today to inform him that he will be postponing his trip to Australia,” said Ms Jean-Pierre.

“He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed upon by the teams.”

This would be the first visit by a US President to Australia in nearly a decade and the fifth time a US President has addressed MPs and Senators.

Mr Albanese said the two leaders had agreed to reschedule his visit to Australia as soon as possible.

What will happen to the Quad meeting now?

Earlier, White House national security spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Biden was going to Japan for the G7 summit at the end of the week.
He noted that Mr. Biden will meet with the leaders of four countries, including Mr. Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the three-day G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Mr. Albanese said the government is now discussing with Tokyo and Delhi a trip by Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Modi.

“Once these discussions are completed, we will make an additional announcement about their journey,” he added.

“In the meantime, I look forward to meeting the prime ministers and the president at the G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 20-21.”
The Quad is not a military alliance and was created to counter Chinese influence in the region.
Ms Jean-Pierre said the Quad was “vital” to foreign policy goals.
“Reviving and revitalizing our alliances and developing partnerships like Quad remains a key priority for the President.

“This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better contribute to global stability and prosperity.”

What happens to the US debt ceiling?

President Biden was due to go into the midst of high-stakes negotiations on the US debt ceiling.

The debate in Washington between the White House and Congressional Republicans revolves around a deal to raise the US government’s debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion ($46.9 trillion) and avert an economically catastrophic default.

The US debt ceiling expires on June 1, with the Treasury Department warning that the US government will not be able to pay its bills after that date unless the White House and Congress agree to raise it.
The annual debt ceiling negotiations were usually a game of chicken, used by both parties to gain concessions before a deal was struck, often at the very last moment.
The US has never defaulted on its debts.

“The President has made it clear that members of Congress from both parties and houses must come together to prevent a default, as they have done 78 times before,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“The president and his team will continue to work with congressional leadership to reach an agreement on a budget that can land on the president’s desk.”
In a 2021 report, the White House Council of Economic Advisers was blunt about the possible consequences of this change: a global recession, frozen credit markets around the world, devastated stock markets, and mass unemployment around the world.
The rhetoric has sharpened recently, with former president and top 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump appearing to support the prospect of a default.
“I tell the Republicans, if they don’t make massive cuts to you, you will have to default,” he said last week.

“I think the Democrats will totally concede, absolutely concede, because you don’t want that to happen. But it’s better than what we’re doing now because we’re spending money like drunken sailors.”