Biden makes historic visit to the Amazon and sends a defiant message to Trump

On Sunday, from the Brazilian Amazon, President Joe Biden called for protecting the world's largest rainforest and questioned whether his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, can reverse the "clean energy revolution" in the United States.

During his visit to the city of Manaus, the first to the Amazon by a sitting U.S. president, Biden challenged Trump, who has vowed to reverse the radical green policies of the Democratic administration.

"The Amazon rainforest was built over 50 million years.... 50 million years. History is literally watching us now. So let's preserve this sacred place for our time and forever, for the benefit of all humanity," Biden said in a statement to the press.

Dart at Trump

The historic visit comes as the world prepares for Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20. The Republican, who promised on the campaign trail to "drill, drill, drill, drill," is poised to ramp up fossil fuel extraction to boost his country's energy independence once again.

As a result, experts warn that his second presidency would slow the transition to green energy that Biden has pushed for, especially in the face of an eventual and likely U.S. exit from global climate agreements such as the Paris Treaty.

However, the 81-year-old outgoing leader felt Sunday that "no one" can reverse the "clean energy revolution" in his country, not even Trump.

"Not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits. Not when countries around the world are taking advantage of the clean energy revolution to get ahead," he said. "Folks, we don't have to choose between environment and economy. We can do both. We've proven that at home."

Next stop: G20

Among other measures, Biden announced that his country will double, to $100 million, its contribution to the Amazon Fund. The fund manages resources from nations and international organizations to preserve this rainforest considered key to slowing warming due to its ability to absorb CO2.

"Maybe (Trump) can come here and see the forest and the damage caused by drought and other things and change his mind on climate change," a senior administration official said of the president-elect.

After his trip to the rainforest, which will probably be the last major foreign trip of his term, the U.S. president will visit Rio de Janeiro.

In the "Cidade maravilhosa" (southeast), Biden will participate in the G20 on Monday and Tuesday, where Trump's return to power and the Baku conference will mark the agenda.

Biden is also scheduled to have lunch with his Brazilian counterpart, leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who pledged to end illegal deforestation of the Amazon by 2030.