US First Lady Jill Biden gives strongest hint yet of President Joe Biden’s second term
Jill Biden has dropped the strongest hint yet that President Joe Biden will run for a second term – saying there is “pretty much” nothing left to do but work out the time and place for the announcement.
The US president has long said it is his intention to seek re-election, though he has yet to make it official.
He has also struggled to dispel concerns over whether he is too old to continue leading the country, as he would be 86 at the end of a second term.
Speaking in Nairobi on the second and final stop of her five-day trip to Africa, Mrs Biden said: “How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?”
She added: “He says he’s not done. He’s not finished what he’s started. And that’s what’s important.”
Granddaughter Naomi Biden, who is on the trip, cheered the first lady’s comments after the exclusive interview.
“Preach nana,” she said on Twitter.
Just hours later, Mr Biden laughed when told about his wife’s comments in an interview with ABC News.
He said: “God love her. Look, I meant what I said, I’ve got other things to finish before I get into a full-blown campaign.”
An announcement is likely to come in April after the first fundraising quarter ends, according to Biden aides, which is around the time that President Barack Obama officially launched his re-election campaign.
The first lady has long been touted as a key figure in Mr Biden’s orbit as he plans his future, though he has brushed off the question over whether she has a deciding vote on if he runs for re-election.
“Of course he’ll listen to me, because we’re a married couple,” she said.
However, she added later, “he makes up his own mind, believe me”.
Jill Biden speaking at the US ambassador’s residence in Nairobi
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The first lady’s interview took place on the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with her recalling her trip to the country last May to meet the besieged country’s first lady Olena Zelenska.
Mrs Biden also spoke extensively for the first time about her skin cancer diagnosis, which led doctors to remove multiple basal cell lesions in January.
“I thought, oh, it’s just something on my eye, you know,” she said. “But then they said, no, we think it’s basal cell.”
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She said doctors then checked her chest and said, “that’s definitely basal cell”.
“So I’m lucky,” the first lady added.
Mrs Biden is the only first lady to continue her career in addition to her ceremonial duties, teaching writing and English to community college students.
And at 71 years old, she said she is not ready to think about retirement.
“I know that I will know when it’s enough,” she said.
“But it’s not yet.”
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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