A red-faced Joe Biden has been pictured leaving St Croix with sunburn after holidaying in the US Virgin Islands for a week.
Biden, 81, was spotted ahead of his flight back to Washington as the 46th President returns to the White House ahead of the 2024 US Presidential Election.
A sunburnt Biden was on full display as he shook hands with Stacey Plaskett before leaving Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in Christiansted, St Croix.
He boarded Air Force One with First Lady Jill Biden.
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greet Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett
GETTY
Biden’s severe sunburn comes after a cancerous skin lesion was removed from his chest last February.
The Commander-in-Chief previously had a benign but potentially precancerous lesion excised by doctors.
However, health officials and scientific studies suggest tanning greatly increases the risk of developing skin cancer and other maladies.
The American Cancer Society revealed most of the more than one million peeople diagnosed with skin cancer in the US each year are considered sun-related.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Joe Biden, followed by granddaughter Natalie and her friend, step off Air Force One
GETTY
The Food and Drug Administration said: “Premature aging is a long-term side effect of UV exposure.”
It added: “Avoiding UV exposure is essential to maintaining healthy skin.”
Biden visited St Croix with his wife and granddaughter Natalie in a three-bedroom beachfront house owned by Bill and Connie Neville.
The villa included an in-ground pool and views of the Caribbean Sea and an offshore island.
Joe and Jill Biden greeting a member of the emergency services
GETTY
The Bidens stayed at the property last year over the New Year’s holiday period.
However, the President’s decision to visit in late 2023 sparked backlash from Republican lawmakers.
GOP figures claimed Biden’s Caribbean trip comes as the US continues to battle an unprecedented border crisis.
Donald Trump also used his New Year's message to blast Biden, saying: "I would like to wish an early New Year’s salutation to crooked Joe Biden and his group of radical left misfits and thugs on their never-ending attempt to destroy our nation through lawfare, invasion and rigging elections."
