Page 19 - Us President

No plans to drop out of race against Trump: Biden tells Democrats

US President Joe Biden told congressional Democrats on Monday that he is "firmly committed" to running for re-election against his Republican rival Donald Trump and called for speculation over his candidacy to end despite mounting concerns about his mental fitness and the viability of his campaign. In a strongly-worded letter to some donors and Democrats who are demanding that he quit the race for the White House on November 5, Biden, the presumptive candidate of the Democratic Party, sought to address their growing concerns. "I have heard the concerns that people have their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this selection. I am not blind to them, 81-year-old Biden wrote in the letter to the Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress. I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn't be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024, asserted the president, who after his June 27 disastrous .

Biden addresses Black church service as calls grow for him to step aside

President Joe Biden urged supporters to stay unified behind him at a rousing Black church service Sunday where the pastor referenced biblical teachings in declaring never count Joseph out, and blamed jealousy for intensifying pressure from some Democrats to abandon his reelection bid. Speaking from a stage flanked by sunshine from a pair of stained-glass windows at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in northwest Philadelphia, the 81-year-old Biden laughed off concerns about his age, joking I know I look 40 but I've been doing this a long time. I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America's future if we stick together, Biden said. He didn't use a teleprompter, which has become more common since his disastrous debate performance last month but spoke from a prepared speech. His remarks followed Pastor Louis Felton likening Biden to Joseph and the biblical story of his coat of many colours. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only to ...

US Prez debate disaster: Why there's a call for Biden to exit the race?

Biden stumbles, Trump lies: All you need to know about the first US presidential debate disaster and why there are calls for Biden to step down and who will replace him

President Biden, Democratic allies raise $264 million in second quarter

The Democratic president's re-election effort has $240 million in cash on hand, the campaign said

Biden, facing race pressure, admits debate skills decline but vows truth

Days after his disastrous presidential debate with his Republican rival Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, under pressure to quit the race, on Monday acknowledged his advancing age but underlined that what he knows is "how to tell the truth." Panic seems to have gripped sections of his Democratic Party following 81-year-old Biden's rambling and at times incoherent 90-minute debate performance in Atlanta on Thursday night. Amidst reports that Biden's family on Sunday encouraged the president to stay in the 2024 race, he indicated on Monday that he is not quitting the race. "Folks, I might not walk as easily or talk as smoothly as I used to. I might not debate as well as I used to. But what I do know is how to tell the truth," Biden, the presumptive presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, posted on his personal X account. Biden's family on Sunday encouraged the president to stay in the 2024 race and privately discussed whether top aides should be fired on the heels of Biden's

President Biden's disjointed debate performance alarms Democratic Party

Democrats who have defended the president for months against his doubters - including members of his own administration - traded frenzied phone calls

Federal prosecutor clashes with judge over restricting Trump's speech

A federal prosecutor in the classified documents case of Donald Trump clashed with the judge Monday as the judge was questioning a request to bar the former president from threatening comments about law enforcement agents involved in the investigation. Special counsel Jack Smith's team is seeking to make as a condition of Trump's freedom pending trial a prohibition on remarks that could endanger agents participating in the case. Prosecutors say those restrictions are necessary after Trump falsely claimed last month that the FBI was prepared to kill him when it searched his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, for classified documents two years ago. But prosecutor David Harbach, a member of Smith's team, encountered immediate pushback from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, whose handling of the case has generated intense scrutiny. The judge questioned Harbach about how she could fashion an order that did not run afoul of Trump's First Amendment rights and whether prosecuto

Trump dwarfs Biden in latest fundraising numbers despite felony convictions

Donald Trump's campaign outraised President Joe Biden by more than USD 60 million last month, according to federal filings made public Thursday that detailed the Republican fundraising explosion sparked by Trump's felony convictions. Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee together raised a robust USD 85 million in May and reported USD 212 million in the bank at the end of the month. The strong showing does not include roughly USD 40 million raised by Biden and his top surrogates in recent days or a separate USD 20 million donation from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to pro-Biden groups. Still, Trump's fundraising for, for one month at least, seemed to dwarf Biden's. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said it raised a jaw-dropping USD 141 million in May, including tens of millions donated immediately after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in the New York hush money case. At the same time, billionaire Timothy Mellon, donated a ...

Biden win would benefit bonds, Trump better for growth: Morgan Stanley CIO

Over the last 12 to 18 months, investors have favored high-quality large-cap stocks that have seen earnings revisions, which in turn generated alpha for these stocks

Trump to undergo probation interview Monday before his New York sentencing

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed by New York probation officials Monday, a required step before his July sentencing in his criminal hush money case, according to three people familiar with the plan. Trump will do the interview via a computer video conference from his residence at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, the people told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to disclose the plans publicly. One of Trump's lawyers, Todd Blanche, will be present for the interview. People convicted of crimes in New York usually meet with probation officials without their lawyers, but the judge in Trump's case, Juan Merchan, said in a letter Friday that he would allow Blanche's presence. The usual purpose of a pre-sentencing probation interview is to prepare a report that will tell the judge more about the defendant, and potentially help determine the proper punishment for the crime. Such reports are ...

Biden to meet Zelenskyy in Paris as Kyiv battles intense Russian offensive

US President Joe Biden was due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Friday as Kyiv's army endures its hardest days of fighting since the early weeks of the war with Russia and prepares for what officials say could be a tough summer ahead. The United States is by far Kyiv's biggest supplier of wartime support, and Ukraine is trying to fend off an intense Russian offensive in eastern areas of the country. The push is focused on the Ukrainian border regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk but Ukrainian officials say it could spread wider as Russia's bigger army seeks to make its advantage tell. The offensive is seeking to exploit Kyiv's shortages of ammunition and troops along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line. That shortfall in weaponry came after US military aid was held up in Congress for six months before Biden in April signed into law a USD 61 billion military aid package for Ukraine. Amid Russia's most recent onslaught and with Ukraine's army .

As Trump narrows search for vice-prez, his short list is nearly all men

Some of the wealthy donors said Trump should select former primary rival Nikki Haley as his No. 2

Hunter Biden's ex-wife, other family members to take stand in gun trial

Federal prosecutors in Hunter Biden's gun trial have spent hours showing jurors evidence of his drug problem, seeking to reveal through his own words and writing the depth of his addiction in order to show it was still going on when he bought a firearm and, they say, lied on a form to purchase it. Testimony was expected to continue Wednesday. Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle is expected to be among the witnesses; she was married to President Joe Biden's son for roughly 20 years. They have three children, divorcing in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much to overcome, according to her memoir entitled, If We Break" about the dissolution of their marriage. She's one of several Biden family and friends expected to testify in a trial that has quickly become a highly personal and detailed tour of Hunter Biden's mistakes and drug usage as the 2024 presidential election looms and allies worry about the toll it will take on the president, who is deeply concerned about

Not ruling out using military force to defend Taiwan, says Prez Biden

Biden said he has made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States will not seek independence for Taiwan as Washington had agreed with Beijing

Biden bats for hostage-for-truce deal; asks Israelis, Hamas to step up

President Joe Biden is looking past resistance from key Israeli officials as he presses Israel and Hamas to agree to a three-phase agreement that could immediately bring home dozens of Israeli hostages, free Palestinian prisoners and perhaps even lead to an endgame in the nearly eight-month-old Gaza war. Biden's big swing -- during a tough re-election battle -- could also demonstrate to a significant slice of his political base demoralised by his handling of the conflict that he's doing his part to end the war that has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians and left hundreds of thousands struggling to meet basic needs. White House officials on Monday said Biden's decision to make public what it describes as an Israeli proposal -- just one day after it was delivered to Hamas -- was driven by a desire to put Hamas on the spot. The move diverged from the US administration's position throughout the conflict to allow the Israelis to speak for themselves about hostage negotiations. "The ...

Jury selection to begin in federal gun case against Hunter Biden today

Jury selection is to begin Monday in the federal gun case against President Joe Biden's son after a deal with prosecutors fell apart that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Hunter Biden, who spent the weekend with his father, has been charged with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase when he was, according to his memoir, in the throes of a crack addiction. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants when he said he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days. He has pleaded not guilty and has argued he's being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department, after Republicans decried the now-defunct deal as special treatment. The trial comes just four days after Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City after a jury found him guilty of a scheme to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor to fend o

All that you need to know about Trump's conviction in hush money trial

Trump angrily denounced the trial as a "disgrace", telling reporters he's an "innocent man"

Hunter Biden's tax trial set for September, gun trial still in June

Hunter Biden is scheduled to stand trial on federal tax charges in September after a judge on Wednesday granted his request to delay the California trial that had been approaching next month. U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi agreed during a hearing to push the case to September 5 after defense lawyers said they need more time to prepare with Hunter Biden also facing a separate trial on federal gun charges beginning June 3 in Delaware. He has pleaded not guilty to both indictments, which his lawyers have claimed are politically motivated. Both cases are being overseen by judges nominated by then-President Donald Trump, a Republican who is running to unseat the Democratic president in November. The trials will add to an already acrimonious presidential election as Trump's allies again seize on embarrassing details from the younger Biden's troubled life to attack his father, even as Trump faces his own legal problems. Trump is charged in four criminal cases, including a hush money ..

Biden, Trump win Kentucky, Oregon primaries as nominating season ends

President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, piled up more delegates on Tuesday as both presumptive nominees won primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. The symbolic decisions provide a few more delegates to the national conventions and a gut check on where the Democratic and Republican bases stand toward their standard-bearers as the presidential nominating season nears its end. Even after they secured the nominations and their rivals dropped out, Biden and Trump have continued facing dissent from within their own parties. Biden has faced protest votes over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war while Trump is still seeing thousands of people voting for long-vanquished rival Nikki Haley. That trend continued on Tuesday in Kentucky with about 18 per cent of the Democratic vote going to uncommitted with roughly 80 per cent of the vote counted. In the GOP race, Haley was winning about 6 per cent. After Tuesday, eight presidential nominating contests will remain: Democrats in

Biden surrendering US campuses to 'anarchists, jihadist freaks': Trump

Trump further claimed that the very same people who are funding the violent campus uprisings are also funding Joe Biden's campaign