WASHINGTON — President Biden hailed Wednesday as “a good day for world peace” after signing into law a $95 billion foreign aid package that mostly finances Ukraine’s defense against Russia — while not directly mentioning that the bill also will either ban TikTok or force a Chinese company to divest from the popular social media platform.
The legislation contains roughly $61 billion in aid for Kyiv, along with $26 billion for the Israel-Hamas conflict, mostly comprising support for the Israeli military invasion of the Gaza Strip, along with $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Palestinians.
Another $8 billion aims to counter China, with much of those funds going to Taiwan.
“This weekend, there were reports — I find this amazing — there were reports of cheers breaking out of the trenches in eastern Ukraine,” Biden said.
“It probably came from one of your folks — a reporter or someone — I’m not sure where it came from. But they’re cheering as they watched the House vote in support of Ukraine.”
The president added: ”In the next few hours — literally a few hours — we’re going to begin sending in equipment to Ukraine for air defense munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armored vehicles. This package is literally an investment not only in Ukraine’s security, but in Europe’s security and our own security.”
Biden said the package would support jobs in 40 states because current US military supplies will be sent to Ukraine, with replenishment coming from new production.
The bill’s proposed TikTok ban will take effect if the Chinese company ByteDance doesn’t divest within a year.
Biden said last month he supported the restriction, despite his own campaign using the app, which has triggered data-security and content manipulation concerns in Washington.
Former President Donald Trump rallied late-breaking Republican opposition to that provision, saying shutting down TikTok would empower US-owned platforms like Facebook to increase political censorship.
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In brief remarks after signing the bill, Biden criticized China for assisting Moscow’s assault on Ukraine — accusing Beijing of “providing components and know-how to boost Russia’s defense production” — but didn’t mention TikTok.
The US president, whose detractors have branded him “Genocide Joe,” also highlighted the $1 billion in aid for Gaza and said ” Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay.”
Biden encouraged Americans to consider the spending part of an interventionist imperative that he said is widely supported by “most of us.”
“We don’t let tyrants win, we oppose them. We don’t merely watch global events unfold, we shape them,” Biden said.
“That’s what it means to be the world’s superpower and the world’s leading democracy,” he added. “Some of our MAGA Republican friends reject that vision, but this bill makes it clear there is a bipartisan consensus for that kind of American leadership.”