Never fear, Europe, Joe Biden’s here. The president’s visit this week was designed to show the world that, when it comes to the war in Ukraine, he is on the front foot. He met refugees in Poland and gave away $1 billion in humanitarian aid. He reiterated his commitment to crippling the Russian economy, arming Ukraine and toughening up Nato. He also said that if Russia were to use chemical weapons, it would “trigger a response in kind”.

Did he really mean that last bit? The trouble with Biden is nobody knows. Yesterday he absent-mindedly suggested that the 82nd Airborne division would be going into Ukraine. “When you’re there,” he said in a speech to them, “you’re going to see women, young people standing in the middle, in the front of a damn tank saying ‘I’m not leaving’.” This ran directly counter to his administration’s clear message that American troops would not be sent into war. 

Of course, a degree of strategic ambiguity can be helpful in these circumstances, and the West wants to keep Putin guessing. But Moscow will recall that the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, drew a red line over chemical weapons in Syria then failed to act when it was crossed, degrading US credibility.

Yet the main concern about Biden’s leadership isn’t necessarily over what he may or may not be willing to do militarily. It is more that, old and doddery as he is, the supposed leader of the free world seems muddled about his role. He can’t quite understand the difference between a Commander-in-Chief, taking firm decisions, and a Commentator-in-Chief, describing the perils the world faces but with little answer on how to tackle them. Biden routinely mistakes the latter for the former. And he has a particularly bad habit of reminding the world that he’s been around long enough to know what he’s talking about.

On Thursday, for instance, when asked if his visit to refugee camps might change his position on America’s involvement in Ukraine, he replied: “I don’t think so because I’ve been to many, many war zones. I’ve been in refugee camps. I’ve been in war zones for the last 15 years. And it’s devastating … you see these young children … you see women and husbands … you see that blank look on their face, that absolute feeling of ‘My God, where am I? What’s going to happen to me?’” It’s good to know that Biden cares, but such droning on is worse than tiresome. It suggests a degree of narcissism that means he is more focused on himself than he is on the job. “I’ve been dealing with foreign policy for longer than anybody else that’s involved in this process right now,” he said in the same press conference.

One wonders what Vladimir Putin, no stranger to arrogance himself, thinks when he hears the leader of the free world constantly puffing himself up in this way. Does he feel shame for not having as much heart as Biden? Or does he recall that it was Biden who, as vice-president, was put in charge of dealing with the Ukrainian crisis of 2014 – along with the now Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the now National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and the now Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland – and think he’s probably going to be okay?

Experience isn’t the same as competence, and Biden’s pride in his career is undermined by his long record of messing things up. He opposed the first Gulf War and supported the invasion of Iraq.

These days, Biden’s memory is so patchy that he doesn’t seem to realise how often he contradicts his own position. “Sanctions never deter,” he said this week, rebuking a crowd of journalists. “You keep talking about that!” But right up until Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, his administration had said time and again that sanctions on Russia would act as a deterrent. Even in his self-appointed role as world pundit, Biden can’t quite get a grip of his brief.

We may laugh at the videos and roll our eyes at his monologues, but the US president’s incompetence will have serious consequences for the West’s ability to counter Russia. Obama’s critics accused him of “leading from behind” on the world stage. Biden seems to be sleeping from behind.