Biden: US 'determined' to earn back Europe's trust

In his first big appearance on the global stage, U.S. President Joe Biden called on fellow world leaders to show together that “democracies can still deliver" as he underscored his administration's determination to quickly turn the page on Donald Trump’s “America First” approach.

Biden, in a virtual address Friday to the annual Munich Security Conference, said it was a critical time for the world's democracies to “prove that our model isn’t a relic of our history.”

“We are in the midst of a fundamental debate about the future direction of our world," Biden said in the address just after taking part in his first meeting as president with fellow Group of Seven world leaders. That debate is "between those who argue that – given all of the challenges we face, from the fourth industrial revolution to a global pandemic – autocracy is the best way forward and those who understand that democracy is essential to meeting those challenges.”

Biden made his address to a global audience as his administration has begun reversing Trump administration policies.

The U.S. president also pledged to repair a U.S.-Europe relationship that had become strained under Trump who repeatedly questioned the value of historic alliances.

He said the U.S. stands committed to working with its transatlantic partners on Afghanistan and defeating the Islamic State Group.

And Biden announced that he's halted a Trump administration plan to withdraw American troops from Germany and cap the number of U.S. forces able to be based there.