US President Joe Biden has delivered an election-year roasting of his rival Donald Trump, criticising his immaturity.
Speaking at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night, the 81-year-old responded to concerns that he is too old for a second presidential term.
“Yes, age is an issue – I’m a grown man running against a six-year-old,” he said, referring to his 77-year-old Republican opponent.
But in a more serious moment, the president told the gathered reporters: “I’m sincerely not asking you to take sides.
“I’m asking you to rise up to the seriousness of the moment.
“Move past the horse race numbers and the gotcha moments and the distractions, the sideshows that have come to dominate and sensationalise our politics, and focus on what’s actually at stake.”
Mr Biden did not acknowledge the hundreds of demonstrators standing outside the event calling for an end to US support of Israel.
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Earlier, he had arrived at the venue through a back entrance, avoiding most of the protesters.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Outside the main entrance, some shouted “Shame on you!”, running after well-dressed attendees as they hurried inside for the dinner.
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Some chanted accusations that US journalists are not paying enough attention to the war and are misrepresenting it, shouting: “Western media, we see you and all the horrors that you hide”.
They were not alone – more than two dozen journalists in Gaza wrote a letter last week calling on their US-based colleagues to boycott the dinner.
The letter said: “The toll exacted on us for merely fulfilling our journalistic duties is staggering.
“We are subjected to detentions, interrogations and torture by the Israeli military – all for the ‘crime’ of journalistic integrity.”
Israel declared war on Hamas and launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza in response to the attack on southern Israel on 7 October, when Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostages.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge in Rafah, where Israel has conducted near-daily raids as it prepares for a possible offensive in the city.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
At the beginning of April, Reporters Without Borders said more than 105 journalists had been killed in the area since 7 October, with at least 22 of them killed in the course of their work.
The protests outside the correspondents’ dinner come as a protest movement sweeps across US universities – a growing revolt within a demographic Mr Biden will need to beat Mr Trump.
Ammunition recovered from the scene of a shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas was engraved with the phrase ‘ANTI ICE’, the FBI has said.
It is being investigated as an act of “targeted violence”, the bureau added.
There are conflicting reports about injuries. The Department of Homeland Security said two detainees had been killed and another was in a critical condition.
Earlier, Dallas police said one person had died and four had been shot.
The attacker also died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect has not been identified.
Image: One of the bullet casings was engraved with ‘ANTI ICE’. Pic: Kash Patel/X
The shooter opened fire on the office from an adjacent building at about 6.40am local time, officers said.
Dallas FBI Special Agent Joseph Rothrock said it was a “coordinated attack” and “just the most recent example we’ve seen of targeted violence”.
Early evidence suggested the incident was “anti-ICE in nature”, he added.
A recovered, unspent shell casing was engraved with the phrase “ANTI ICE”, said FBI director Kash Patel.
Image: The shooting happened at an ICE field office in Dallas. Pic: Reuters
Multiple rounds were fired just before 7am local time, Mr Patel said.
An initial review of evidence shows an “ideological motive behind this attack”, he added, describing the assault as “despicable”.
The “whole of government” will respond, Mr Rothrock said.
“There will be no resource not utilised to bring all those individuals who are responsible to justice and to hold them accountable.”
No police officers had been hurt, Mr Rothrock added.
Image: Police near the ICE facility in Dallas. Pic: AP
The victims were being led into the building to be processed and repatriated, Fox News reported, citing Dallas police Department sources.
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, said the shooting would “NOT slow our arrest, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants”.
He added: “We will work with ICE and the Dallas Police Department to get to the bottom of the assassin’s motive.”
US Vice President JD Vance said: “The obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.
“I’m praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families.”
No ICE agents were shot or hurt, Sky News’s US partner network NBC reported.
Despite the reports that no ICE agents were shot, US Attorney General Ken Paxton said: “We will continue to do everything in our power to combat the alarming increase of targeted attacks against ICE and all law enforcement by evil, twisted individuals.”
“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” he said as he choked up.
“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make”.
Kimmel was accused of being “offensive and insensitive” after using his programme, Jimmy Kimmel Live, to accuse Donald Trump and his allies of capitalising on the killing.
Speaking on Tuesday night’s show, Kimmel said he understood why the remarks “felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both”.
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2:04
Kimmel returns – and not everyone’s on same page
‘Not legal’ to take me off-air, says Kimmel
Appearing tearful again, Kimmel praised Kirk’s widow, Erika, for forgiving her husband’s killer at his memorial service, calling it a “selfless act of grace … that touched me deeply”. In contrast, Mr Trump has said he disagreed, telling the service: “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.”
Kimmel went on to criticise the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air, saying: “That’s not legal. That’s not American. It’s un-American.”
He also thanked those who supported him, adding: “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did and they deserve credit for it.”
Image: Jimmy Kimmel’s show returned after less than a week off-air. Pic: Reuters
Trump threatens further action
In a post on his Truth Social platform before it aired on Tuesday night, Mr Trump said he “can’t believe” ABC gave Kimmel his show back and hinted at further action.
“Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,” he wrote.
“He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this.”
In his opening monologue, Kimmel mocked Mr Trump for criticising him for bad ratings, saying: “He tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this show.”
Mr Trump had welcomed Kimmel’s suspension, saying he had “bad ratings”, but the move was criticised by Hollywood stars and senior Democrats including Barack Obama.
What did Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?
The comments that saw Kimmel taken off-air were made last week.
The TV presenter said:“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Speaking about Mr Trump, he added: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend.
“This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
“Many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he continued.
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Mr Trump, speaking to French President Emmanuel Macron at the United Nations in New York, said his relationship with Vladimir Putin had turned out to be meaningless.
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations. Pic: Reuters
Writing on Truth Social, the US president said: “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.”
Mr Trump wrote that he had gained a greater understanding of the “economic trouble” the war was causing Moscow.
He said Russia had been “fighting aimlessly” for three-and-a-half years and had it been a “real military power” it would have defeated Ukraine in less than a week.
Mr Trump added: “This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger’.”
Mr Trump’s tone contrasted greatly with his red-carpet treatment for the Russian president at a summit in Alaska last month, part of a push to expedite an end to the war in Ukraine.
The US president has previously suggested Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Mr Zelenskyy later said he was surprised by Mr Trump’s comments, telling Fox News’ Special Report he has a better relationship with the US president than before.
He said the comments were a very positive signal Mr Trump and the US will be with Ukraine until the end of the war.
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4:11
Rigby to Trump: Was Putin’s Alaska invite a mistake?
Earlier on Tuesday, while talking to Mr Zelenskyy at the United Nations, Mr Trump was asked by reporters whether he thought NATO should shoot down Russian planes if they entered NATO airspace.
“Yes, I do,” Mr Trump replied.
Asked whether the US would support NATO in shooting down Russian aircraft, Mr Trump said it depended on the circumstances.
On Truth Social, he said the US would continue to supply weapons to NATO and it was for the military alliance to “do what they want with them”.
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2:42
Trump attacks UN and London mayor
Ukraine, he said, with the “support of the European Union”, is in a position to “fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form”.
Kyiv would need the “financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO”, he said.
But, given those caveats, he said the “original borders from where this war started is very much an option”.
In a joint statement following the president’s comments, G7 foreign ministers said discussions were ongoing about additional economic sanctions on Russia.
Mr Trump also suggested the Russian people are not aware of “what is really going on with this war”.
He added: “Most of their money is being spent on fighting Ukraine. Putin and Russia are in big economic trouble and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
Ukraine has lost large areas of land in the east of the country. In the Donetsk region, Russia now controls about 70% of the territory. Kyiv’s forces have been pushed back to a string of four cities analysts have dubbed the “fortress belt”.
Moscow has partly annexed three other regions, too: Luhansk in the east, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson further west.
Image: The situation in Ukraine on 19 September
Meanwhile, Russia appears to be provoking its neighbours to the west. Last week, Estonia said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated its airspace for 12 minutes before Italian NATO jets escorted them away.
The week before, about 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting NATO jets to shoot some of them down.