Page 17 - Joe Biden

President-elect Trump in Washington to meet Biden, fellow Republicans

Biden and Trump have sharply criticized each other for years, and their respective teams hold vastly different positions on policies from climate change to Russia to trade

Diminished Biden heads to APEC summit in Peru, overshadowed by China's Xi

If things had gone differently last week, U.S. President Joe Biden could have arrived at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru on Thursday projecting confidence and pledging his successor's cooperation with eager Latin American partners. No longer. Just as in 2016, the last time that Peru's capital Lima hosted APEC, Donald Trump's election victory has pulled the rug out from under a lame-duck Democrat at the high-profile summit attended by over a dozen world leaders. The renewed prospect of Trump's America First doctrine hampers Biden's ability to reinforce the United States' profile on his first presidential trip to South America, experts say, leaving China and its leader, Xi Jinping, to grab the limelight in America's proverbial backyard. President Xi's first order of business in Peru is inaugurating a $1.3 billion megaport that will put China's regional influence on stark display. Total investment is expected to top $3.5 billion over the next decade. This isn't the

US Senate democrats rush to confirm judges before Trump takes office

The Senate voted 51-44 in favor of her becoming a US district court judge in Illinois

Biden govt sidesteps its 30-day deadline for Israel to improve Gaza aid

Israel has done enough to assuage US concerns but needs to do more, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a briefing Tuesday in Washington

Trump picks experienced advisors to carry out his immigration crackdown

Donald Trump's first picks for immigration policy jobs spent the last four years angling for this moment. Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan had critical roles in the first Trump administration and are unapologetic defenders of its policies, which included separating thousands of parents from their children at the border to deter illegal crossings. With Trump promising sweeping action in a second term on illegal immigration, the two White House advisers will bring nuts-and-bolts knowledge, lessons from previous setbacks and personal views to help him carry out his wishes. After Trump left office in 2021, Miller became president of America First Legal, a group that joined Republican state attorneys general to derail President Joe Biden's border policies and plans. Homan, who worked decades in immigration enforcement, founded Border 911 Foundation Inc, a group that says it fights against a border invasion and held its inaugural gala in April at Trump's Florida estate. Homan knows how the

Israeli work on Alpha Line with Syria saw severe cease-fire violations: UN

United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed severe violations of a cease-fire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. The comments from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, which has patrolled the area since 1974, come after an Associated Press report Monday that published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier. The work, which UNDOF said began in July, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip's frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire. While such violence hasn't broken out along the Alpha Line, UNDOF warned Tuesday the work risked further inflaming tensions in the region. Such severe violations of the (demilitarized

US sets methane fee on oil, gas emitters as Prez Biden term winds down

The fee will start at $900 per metric ton of methane emitted in 2024, and increases to $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 for 2026 and beyond

Donald Trump might get to launch Biden-approved factories, infra projects

All that's left is for President-elect Donald Trump to put his name on it if he wants. Trump won the White House in large part because of voters' frustration with high prices and a sense that the United States needs major changes. But when he enters office in January, Trump will inherit an economy primed for growth. The unemployment rate is low, inflation is easing and President Joe Biden's administration has teed-up a ready-made list of infrastructure projects that could go from theoretical to reality over the next several years. There's the TSMC computer chip plant in Arizona, the new Hyundai electric vehicle factory in Georgia and a modernized I-375 in Michigan, among thousands of projects under way that will take years to complete. All of that means it could be Trump, rather than Biden, who gets to tell Americans that he built the country back better. If he decides to let the projects proceed, that is. Biden, himself, acknowledged last week that the positive economic impacts

Biden, Kamala Harris appear together for first time since she lost election

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her election loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Biden honoured the service and sacrifice of America's military veterans, including those who paid the ultimate price, and their families, during what was his final time speaking at the cemetery's memorial amphitheatre in his capacity as commander in chief of the US military. It's been the greatest honour of my life, to lead you, to serve you, to care for you, to defend you, just as you defended us, generation after generation after generation, Biden said. You are the greatest fighting force, and this is not hyperbole, the finest fighting force in the history of the world. He reminisced about trips to US military installations around the world, and to such historic military sites as Valley Forge and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. Biden also .

Biden's WH invitation to Trump continues a tradition Trump shunned in 2020

Before he comes back for good on Inauguration Day, Donald Trump will return to the White House briefly at the invitation of Democratic President Joe Biden, who had hoped to defeat his Republican predecessor a second time and reside there for four more years. That may make for an awkward encounter, especially given that, after Biden ousted Trump in 2020, Trump offered no such White House invitation to Biden. Trump even left Washington before the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration, becoming the first president to do so since Andrew Johnson skipped the 1869 swearing-in of Ulysses S. Grant. Biden also has the unusual distinction of having beaten Trump in one cycle and running against him for about 15 months during this year's campaign. As he sought reelection, Biden constantly decried Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation's core values before leaving the race in July and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who took on her own campaign and lost on Election Day. When the two meet in

California Guv Newsom heads to DC to safeguard state policies from Trump

California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to meet with the Biden administration this week to discuss zero-emission vehicles and disaster relief issues that have been targeted in the past by President-elect Donald Trump. The Democratic governor is leaving for Washington on Monday and will return home Wednesday, his office said. Newsom will also meet with California's congressional delegation. He is seeking federal approval for state climate rules, a USD 5.2 billion reimbursement for emergency funding during the COVID-19 pandemic and updates to the state's Medicaid program, along with other priorities. The trip comes days after Newsom called for state lawmakers to convene a special session in December to protect California's liberal policies ahead of Trump's return to office in January. California won against most of the Trump administration's legal challenges over the state's environmental and other progressive policies during the Republican's first term, said Thad Kousser, a political ..

Biden should resign, says Kamala's ex-aide, so she can be 1st woman US Prez

Jamal Simmons suggested that Joe Biden could relinquish the presidency within the next 30 days, making Kamala Harris the first woman President of the United States

Biden should resign, make Harris first female President, says former aide

A former staffer of Vice President Kamala Harris urged President Joe Biden to resign and install his deputy as the first woman president of the country, although for a short duration. Joe Biden has been amazing but he should fulfil one last promise - to be transitional," Jamal Simmons, former communications director for the vice president said on a social media post after making a similar suggestion during a Sunday talk show. Joe Biden's been a phenomenal president, he's lived up to so many of the promises he's made. There's one promise left that he could fulfil, being a transitional figure. He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris President of the United States," Simmons told CNN's"Situation Room in an interview. "It'd turn tables on Trump, keep Kamala from presiding over January 6 and make it easier for the next woman to run, he said. It would absolve her from having to oversee the January 6 transition of her own defeat. And it would make sure, it wo

Donald Trump wins Arizona, defeats Harris in all seven battleground states

US President-elect Donald Trump has won the election in Arizona, defeating his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in all seven battleground states. The seven battleground states in this election cycle were Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia. The victory in Arizona took Trump's electoral college tally to 312 against 226 of Vice President Harris. Arizona holds 11 electoral college votes. The Republican Party has regained control of the Senate and is all set to retain a majority in the House of Representatives. Currently, the party has 52 seats in the Senate and the Democrats have 47. In the House, Republicans have so far won 216 seats against 209 of the Democrats. The majority mark is 218. Republicans are confident that they will get the necessary number of seats to cross the halfway mark. In 2020, President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996. Trump has now flipped it back. He campaigned heavily o

Trump announces Inaugural Committee to plan his inaugural events in 2025

US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday announced the formation of a committee to plan and celebrate his inauguration on January 20, 2025. Trump, 78, was elected as the 47th president of the United States in a stunning victory in the November 5 general elections. He succeeds outgoing President Joe Biden. The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, which will plan the inaugural events, will be co-chaired by his longtime friends Steve Witkoff and Senator Kelly Loeffler. "On Election Night, we made history and I have the extraordinary honour of having been elected the 47th president of the United States thanks to tens of millions of hardworking Americans across the nation who supported our America First agenda," Trump said. The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee will honor this magnificent victory in a celebration of the American People and our nation, he said. "This will be the kick-off to my administration, which will deliver on bold promises to Make America Great Again. Together, we wil

Biden to meet President-elect Donald Trump in Oval Office on Nov 13

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House said on Saturday. A statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden and Trump would meet in the Oval Office at 11:00 am at the outgoing president's invitation. Such a post-election meeting is traditional between the outgoing president and the incoming president. However, Trump, a Republican, did not host Biden, a Democrat, for such a meeting after he lost the election in 2020.

Biden expanded India-US relation, strengthened Nato: Lloyd Austin

The Biden Administration in the last four years has expanded America's relationship with India, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. "We strengthened NATO. We've pulled NATO together. We've kept 50 countries focused on providing security assistance to Ukraine. The things that we've done in the Indo-Pacific. Quite amazing," Austin told reporters in Florida. "We walked in the door, and we were about to get kicked out of the Philippines. We are 180 degrees out from that now. We have a great relationship with the Philippines, and we continue to work together in the ways that we should be working together. You look at AUKUS, which is a generational capability that is really going to make a significant difference going forward, he said. Austin said that America's relationship with India has improved under the Biden administration. "We walked in the door and Japan has doubled its investment in defense and the list goes on and on and on. So, despite supporting and managing security ...

Echo dark moments in history: Biden condemns Amsterdam attacks on Israelis

His statement comes a day after Israeli soccer fans were assaulted by young people in hit-and-run scooter attacks

After Donald Trump's election win, many Americans research moving abroad

Late Wednesday evening on the US East Coast, Google searches about emigrating were hitting all-time highs for all three countries, according to a Google official

Court cancels US govt's scheme guarding immigrant spouses from deportation

A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens. The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country. The temporary relief from deportation brought a brief sense of security to some 500,000 immigrants estimated to benefit from the program before Texas-based U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker put it on hold in August, days after applicants filed their paperwork. Barker ruled Thursday that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority by implementing the program and had stretched the legal interpretation of relevant immigration law past its breaking point. The short-lived Biden administration initiative known as Keeping Families Together would have been unlikely to rem