President Joe Biden’s tardy arrival at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The 81-year-old president missed the iconic group photo featuring world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi, as they stood against the breathtaking backdrop of Rio’s coastline and the famous Sugarloaf Mountain, as reported by The Daily Mail.

The photo-op, a hallmark of international summits designed to project unity, proceeded without Biden, highlighting a stark shift in global dynamics.

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While other leaders grinned and posed, Biden was conspicuously absent. Local Brazilian television captured the moment live, and journalists on-site, including those with C-SPAN, expressed shock at the proceedings.

A Brazilian TV producer’s real-time commentary on the situation went viral, as she exclaimed, “Oh my God! He’s behind the palm tree right now!” Biden, wearing his trademark aviator shades and a blue suit, finally appeared, but it was too late—the photo session had already concluded.

President Joe Biden removes his sunglasses before starting his speech to formally apologize for abuses committed against Native boarding school students over the past century during a visit to the Gila Crossing Community School on Oct. 25, 2024, in Gila River Indian Community.

Accompanying Biden in his late arrival was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Their tardiness, reportedly just minutes after the session ended, stood out starkly amidst a summit focused on the launch of a new Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, championed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

This wasn’t Biden’s first stumble at a major summit. Just days earlier at the APEC summit in Lima, Peru, he also showed up late for the “family photo,” sparking comparisons to previous leaders like Donald Trump, who made it a point to command center stage during similar events.

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The optics of Biden missing the G20 photo were exacerbated by the broader narrative of waning U.S. influence on the global stage. Xi Jinping, a leader with a long track record of defying U.S. policies, was given front-row prominence during the Rio event.

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In Peru, Xi received an elaborate welcome ceremony during his state visit, further overshadowing Biden’s presence. Meanwhile, Biden’s South American trip included significant announcements, such as new funding for rainforest preservation and the establishment of an International Conservation Day.

However, questions lingered about whether these initiatives would survive the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has famously dismissed climate change as a “hoax.”

President Joe Biden speaks with a woman at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, S.C. after visiting the Carolinas following Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.

Adding to the embarrassment, the White House offered no explanation for Biden’s tardiness, and his trip notably lacked the traditional press conferences or informal media interactions expected from a U.S. president.

As Biden’s lame-duck term winds down, his absence from the G20 photo serves as a stark symbol of a presidency increasingly overshadowed by the shifting priorities of a world that no longer bends to Washington’s will.