NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) – Joe Biden is wrapping up his final Thanksgiving holiday as president on Nantucket, a family tradition that appears to be part of a broader farewell to his time in the White House this year.
The Democrat’s four years as president will be bookended by Republican Donald Trump, whose Cabinet nominations, tariff threats and glitzy nights at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida club, have captured the public’s attention since the November election. Biden dropped out of the presidential election in July and was replaced on the ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump.
During his five days on the island of Massachusetts, with its picturesque clapboard houses and seashell beaches, the 82-year-old Biden still faced questions about his legacy. He planned to return to Washington later Saturday and leave for Angola the next day for his only visit to Africa as president.
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On Friday, as Biden and his family walked along the scenic brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets that have made Nantucket a wealthy and desirable summer vacation spot, passersby shouted, “We love you, Joe.” The Biden contingent included the president’s daughter, Ashley, and son, Hunter, as well as Hunter’s 4-year-old son, Beau.
Over the past year, Biden has called Trump’s falsehoods about the administration’s hurricane aid “un-American” and repeatedly warned that the new president could undermine American democracy and foreign alliances.
But when reporters on Thanksgiving Day asked him what he was grateful for, Biden said: “I am grateful for a peaceful transition of the presidency.”
Biden also said he was grateful for his family, the new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the potential for more progress in the Middle East. The president, who has largely avoided reporters’ questions lately, addressed a number of issues related to Trump and the policies.
He suggested that the “thin” margins of power for Republicans in the next Congress will mean Trump will have to accept “a real compromise” as he pushes his agenda.
“I think there may be a little bit of an internal reckoning,” Biden said.
Biden also said he hoped Trump would “reconsider” his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, leading U.S. trading partners.
“We are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and two allies: Mexico and Canada,” Biden said. ‘And the last thing we need to do is start ruining those relationships. I think we have them in a good place.”
Days earlier, Trump had pledged on his social media site Truth Social to impose 25% tariffs on both countries until they halt illegal immigration and block the flow of drugs across their border with the United States. The threat prompted Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to call Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fly to Florida to meet him on Friday.
After that call, Trump claimed in a message to “effectively close our southern border,” a statement Sheinbaum disputed even as she expressed confidence that the tariffs would be averted. Mexico has already taken steps to address the issues raised by Trump – a point also raised by Biden.
Trump has also threatened an additional 10% tariff on China unless the country stops exporting materials used to make the drug fentanyl.
Biden told reporters that Chinese President Xi Jinping understood the value of avoiding missteps in relations with the United States.
“The one thing I’m sure of about Xi is that he doesn’t want to make mistakes,” Biden said. “And I’m not saying he’s our best friend, but he understands what’s at stake.”
On Thanksgiving Day, Biden went to a fire station with his wife Jill and grandson Beau to deliver pumpkin pies. The first lady told firefighters and police officers that the family has been going to Nantucket for Thanksgiving since 1975, an outing the family has come to call “nana-tucket” in a nod to her central role in establishing the tradition.
The firefighters gave the Bidens a pair of baseball caps.
The president put on his and asked his grandson, “What do you think?”
“It looks good,” said the grandson, who hesitated when the president asked him if he wanted to be a firefighter.
On Friday, the Biden family had lunch at the Brotherhood of Thieves restaurant and stopped at Nantucket Bookworks, an art gallery and several other shops. Their afternoon ended with the ceremonial Christmas tree lighting and carols as the crowd took photos and videos of a grinning Biden.
This year’s holiday could have a special emotional resonance as a respite from some family tumult.
In December, Hunter Biden will be sentenced on three felony charges over the 2018 gun purchase when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. He will also be sentenced in California in December on federal tax charges to which he pleaded guilty in September.
The president has previously said he will not pardon his son or commute his eventual sentence.
