ℍ𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕪 ℂ𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕡𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕍𝕝𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕣 ℙ𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝔸𝕋𝕆 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝕌.𝕊. 𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕪 ℂ𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕝𝕖𝕕 ℝ𝕦𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕒𝕟 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕍𝕝𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕣 ℙ𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 ℕ𝔸𝕋𝕆 𝕖𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕋𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕕𝕒𝕪, 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘: "𝕋𝕠𝕠 𝕓𝕒𝕕, 𝕍𝕝𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕣. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗."

R

eturning to the State Department for the unveiling of her official portrait, Clinton also used the occasion to display distaste for the policies of Republican former President Donald Trump, who defeated her in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Clinton suggested that there may have been questions about the U.S. ability to muster support for Ukraine to resist Russia's 2022 invasion because of Trump's legacy of alienating allies.

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"People might have doubted that because we had burned so many bridges with our allies and our friends," she told current and former officials in the agency's ornate Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room.

"Reinstating a foreign policy ... that actually brings people to us, not pushes them away, would have been thought to be extremely difficult. And indeed it was, but it was accomplished," she added, thanking Secretary of State Antony Blinken for "helping to restore America's standing."

Clinton said fellow Democrat U.S. President Joe Biden pursued many of the priorities of the Obama administration, in which she was the top U.S. diplomat and he served as vice president to Barack Obama.

"Defending democracy in Ukraine, expanding NATO - just as an aside, too bad Vladimir, you brought it on yourself," she said, prompting laughter and applause.

"We always said, 'people are not forced to join NATO. People choose and want to join NATO,'" she added.

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Clinton described what she saw as common Biden and Obama priorities of "expanding NATO, facing down Russian aggression and managing the challenges from China."

She joked that it had been a long time since she had seen the portrait, which depicted her gazing into the distance against the backdrop of an enlarged American flag.

"Between COVID, between not wanting to finish it during the prior administration," she said with a meaningful glance at the audience, drawing laughter, "it's been a while. And I am going to be probably as surprised as all of you."

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