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RIO If there was any doubt that Joe Biden is no longer in the picture for many world leaders, his final G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro provided a sure sign.
Biden has been making a last pitch for global support on issues from Ukraine and Gaza to climate change before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
But as his counterparts gathered for an official G20 photo beside the Brazilian city’s stunning bayside, there was a problem — the 81-year-old Biden was a no-show.
Instead of the US president, it was China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who joked and chatted in the front row before posing together.
Frustrated American officials blamed it on “logistical issues” and said the picture was taken too soon, as Biden was still making his way to the area from talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“They took the photo early before all the leaders had arrived. So a number of the leaders weren’t actually there,” a US official said on condition of anonymity.
Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also missed out.
But while the issue did not appear to have been a deliberate snub, it reflected the increasingly sidelined status of the lame-duck US leader as Trump’s comeback looms.
