Obama: U.S. Image Won’t Change ‘Overnight’

Former President Barack Obama is confident President-elect Joe Biden's foreign relations team can restore the nation's reputation board -- if they're patient.

Biden unveiled his pick for secretary of state, Tony Blinken, who was Obama’s former deputy secretary of state and national security advisor. Blinken has similar roles in the Clinton administration.

In an interview published Monday by The Washington Post, Obama hailed Blinken as a “skilled diplomat (who is) well regarded around the world.”

Donald Trump has frustrated -- and even angered -- U.S. allies at times during his four years in office as president, from ditching the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran nuclear deal to meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un and drawing down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama told the Post “some damage” has been done to the U.S. reputation overseas, but he believed Biden had the right team in place so far to reengage the international community.

“It’s going to be important to recognize the confidence that our allies had and the world had in American leadership is not going to be restored overnight,” Obama said. “They’re going to be greatly relieved and pleased to see people like Tony, you know, at various conferences around the world and returning to the traditional leadership role that the U.S. has played.”

Among the policy initiatives from Biden would be a swift return to the Paris climate accord and a possible reentry into the multilateral nuclear deal that saw Iran abandon some of its nuclear ambitions in favor of a more active role on the global stage. Both of those initiatives were abandoned by Trump during his first years in office.

On how the U.S.looks from the outside in, Obama said the incoming Biden administration was coming to the White House with a lot on its plate.

“There is going to be a lingering sense that America is still divided … some of the shenanigans that are going around right now during the election ... that is making the world question how reliable and steady the U.S. may be,” he said.