Psaki, who did not travel with the president to Europe, says her last contact with Biden was on Tuesday
Jen Psaki, Joe Biden’s White House press secretary, said on Sunday she had tested positive for Covid-19.
Psaki, 42, did not travel with Biden to Rome for this week’s G20 summit. The president is also due to travel to Glasgow for the Cop26 climate talks. Biden has been accompanied in Europe by his principal deputy press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Continue reading...Leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies will endorse a US proposal for a global minimum corporate tax of 15%, draft conclusions of the two-day G20 summit in Rome showed on Saturday.
The G20 plans to have the rules in force in 2023.
Continue reading...Joe Biden held an unusually long meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican and gifted him a 'command coin' sometimes awarded to soldiers and leaders. 'You are the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met,' the US president told the pope. Citing what he said was a tradition linked to the coin, he joked: 'Next time I see you, if you don't have it, you have to buy the drinks'
Continue reading...Pelosi forced to postpone infrastructure vote on Thursday ahead of Biden’s meeting with world leaders in Rome
Joe Biden’s nearly $3tn domestic agenda remains unrealized after an 11th-hour push to rally Democrats around a pared-down package that he framed as historic, failed to close the deal in time for his meeting with world leaders in Rome at the G20 summit.
But after a dramatic Thursday of bold promises and dashed hopes, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was forced to postpone a vote on a $1tn infrastructure bill for a second time in a month, as progressives demanded more assurances that a compromise $1.75tn social policy plan would also pass.
Continue reading...Joe Biden tried to repair his personal and political relationship with Emmanuel Macron by acknowledging that the announcement of a security and technology pact that blindsided France was a 'clumsy' episode handled with a lack of grace. The US president and his French counterpart met at France’s Vatican embassy in Rome on Friday, before the G20 leaders’ summit this weekend, for their first in-person discussion since Macron was left feeling betrayed and humiliated by September’s security deal
Continue reading...American president moves to repair relationship after France was blindsided by security pact
Joe Biden has moved to repair his damaged personal and political relationship with Emmanuel Macron by acknowledging that the announcement of a security and technology pact that blindsided France was a “clumsy” episode handled with a lack of grace.
Continue reading...Beijing must not be let off hook over human rights abuses in return for climate cooperation, say legislators
Legislators from around the world have gathered on the fringes of the G20 summit in Rome to protest against the presence of the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, and urge leaders not to let China off the hook over human rights abuses in return for Beijing’s cooperation on the climate crisis.
Many of those at the Rome counter-meeting have been banned from travelling to China as punishment for campaigning against Chinese repression in Xinjiang.
Continue reading...Joe Biden has urged Democrats to pass his $1.75tn social spending plan, insisting he campaigned on the agenda in the bills and ‘81 million Americans voted’ for it. ‘Their voices deserve to he heard, not denied,’ the US president said as he delivered remarks at the White House after declaring he has reached a ‘historic economic framework’ with Democratic lawmakers
Continue reading...Joe Biden rallied House Democrats behind a proposed $1.75tn framework deal that he said could win the support of every Democrat in the Senate and prove to the world that American democracy can deliver.
“I am back here to tell you that we have a framework that will get 50 votes in the United States Senate,” he told House Democrats during a morning caucus meeting, according to a source familiar.
Continue reading...The president has snubbed Mohammed bin Salman, but the ruler recently labelled a ‘psychopath’ is a problem that won’t go away
When Joe Biden was recently asked whether gas prices would come down soon, the US president offered a cryptic explanation of how his strained relations with Saudi Arabia were at least partly to blame for the price at the pump.
Gas prices were high because oil-rich nations in the Middle East were not increasing the supply of oil. That was happening, Biden suggested, in retaliation for his personal decision to not speak with – nor acknowledge – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as his counterpart.
Continue reading...Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Another reporter pressed Jen Psaki on whether Joe Biden will be able to push for significant climate policies at the Cop26 conference if he has not yet reached a deal on the reconciliation package.
The press secretary acknowledged that it would be Biden’s “preference” to go to the United Nations conference with a deal on the reconciliation bill, which is expected to include a number of climate provisions, although some of them have been scaled back due to demands from Joe Manchin.
Continue reading...The US president hopes to be a transformational figure like FDR but inaction on voting rights, the climate crisis and social policy has fuelled frustration
When Joe Biden huddled with a group of historians in March, the conversation revolved around thinking big like one of his predecessors, Franklin Roosevelt, architect of the New Deal. Biden, it seemed, wanted to join him in the first rank of transformational US presidents.
Six months later, a very different gathering took place this week outside the White House gates. Five young climate activists, holding signs and sitting on folding chairs, began an indefinite hunger strike. It was a visceral expression of disgust at what they see as Biden’s willingness to think small and break his promises.
Continue reading...Administration insists there is no change of policy after president says US has ‘a commitment’ to defend island
China has urged the US to “avoid sending any wrong signals” after President Joe Biden for a second time in three months said the US would come to Taiwan’s defence if it was attacked.
In both incidents, the White House has clarified that there has been no change in US policy, which officially maintains so-called “strategic ambiguity” regarding Taiwan. Still, Biden’s words will rattle Beijing.
Continue reading...Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have arrived at the memorial for Dr Martin Luther King at the Tidal Basin in Washington.
The president and the vice-president will soon deliver remarks to mark the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the memorial. Stay tuned.
Continue reading...Climate activists have gathered on Capitol Hill to demand that Democrats’ reconciliation package effectively address the climate crisis.
One protester with Greenpeace carried cutouts of Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and moderate Democratic senator Joe Manchin, portraying Schumer as Manchin’s puppet.
Continue reading...Democratic senator Jon Tester has also voiced criticism of progressives’ suggestion to add a carbon tax to the reconciliation package.
“You might have problems with me on a carbon tax,” Tester said, per Politico.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has sought to block the release of documents related to the US Capitol attack to a House committee investigating the incident, challenging Joe Biden’s initial decision to waive executive privilege.
In a federal lawsuit, the former president said the committee’s request in August was “almost limitless in scope” and sought many records that were not connected to the siege.
Continue reading...Joe Biden reflected on Colin Powell’s legacy of service and offered condolences to his family following the former US secretary of state’s passing.
“Jill and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and a patriot of unmatched honor and dignity, General Colin Powell,” said Biden in a newly released statement.
Continue reading...Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appeals to Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to meet and find common ground
US president Joe Biden and the president of China, Xi Jinping, have been urged to meet before the UN Cop26 climate talks to search for common ground by the former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and other prominent global voices.
“We are appealing to the leaders of the US and China to see their common interest and find a way to work together. We need an ambitious 2030 [carbon] target from China and the US to deliver what they have pledged,” said Ban, speaking on behalf of the Elders group of former world statespeople and prominent community and business leaders.
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