The nine words about Vladimir Putin that President Biden ad-libbed in his speech in Warsaw last weekend seemed to imply the U.S. seeks regime change in Moscow, causing the White House and the State Department to quickly clarify Biden’s remarks. On Thursday, Biden ordered the largest-ever release of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months, in an effort to tamp down gasoline prices that have buoyed inflation. And a few days earlier, the U.S. and EU announced a joint task force to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels, causing Biden to engage in a political balancing act as he touted his Administration’s commitment to tackling climate change.

As the war in Ukraine grinds into a second month, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Kaitlyn Martin, and Tristan Breaux discuss how domestic political pressures may stand in tension with Biden’s stated commitments to protecting democracy outside of U.S. borders, and how balancing both the domestic and international pressures shape the President’s decision making.