HANOVER, MARYLAND — Joe Biden delivered a keynote address at a gala hosted by the Maryland Democratic Party in Hanover, Maryland, where he criticized Donald Trump's policies and legacy.

Biden described Trump as "a loser" and accused his administration of having "corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration." He stated that Trump "diminished our standing in the world more than any president in history has." Biden criticized Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and accused Trump of "deliberate distortion and destruction" of the Nato military alliance.

The former president referenced a plan for the demolition of the White House's East Wing for a ballroom, plans for a triumphal arch, and the court-ordered removal of Trump's name from the facade of the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Biden cited an algae bloom that affected a $14.7 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, stating that the federal government awarded a $1.7 million no-bid filtration system contract to a Trump donor who lives near the president's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. He also invoked the administration's efforts to compensate individuals convicted of and then presidentially pardoned for roles in the January 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Biden, 83, dropped out of the November 2024 presidential race. Trump, 80, won a second White House term by defeating Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden previously issued a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, for federal gun and tax charges.