Biden

April 19, 2025 8:56 AM

White House launches COVID website that criticizes WHO, Fauci and Biden

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's White House launched a COVID-19 website on Friday in which it blamed the origins of the coronavirus on a lab leak in China while criticizing Democratic former President Joe Biden, former top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci and the World Health Organization. The website was also critical of steps like social distancing, mask mandates and lockdowns. Trump began a 12-month process of withdrawing the U.S. - by far the WHO's largest financial back...

January 26, 2025 10:00 AM

US President Trump makes 2,000-pound bombs available to Israel, undoing Biden pause

Republican President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has instructed the U.S. military to release a hold imposed by Democratic former President Joe Biden on the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. The move was widely expected. “We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Biden put the hold on the delivery of those bombs du...

January 21, 2025 10:09 AM

Trump criticises Biden for pardoning family members before leaving office

US President Donald Trump on Monday took a potshot at his predecessor Joe Biden for pardoning his family members in the last moments of his presidency. "Did you know that Biden, while I was making my speech, pardoned his whole family? The brother, the whole deal was pardoned. Can you imagine that? While I was making my speech," Trump remarked, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd. He also outlined plans to take swift action in his administration, announcing that he would sign executive...

January 15, 2025 10:00 AM

Biden looks to relax Cuba sanctions in final days before Trump

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it would remove Cuba from its terrorism blacklist, while Cuba said separately it would release upward of 500 prisoners from its jails, dual announcements poised to reshape U.S.-Cuba relations just days before Donald Trump takes office. President Joe Biden's announcements effectively roll back many of the sanctions put in place by President-elect Trump during his previous term ending in 2021. If they endure, they would represent the most significant ad...

December 28, 2024 11:00 AM

A true statesman and dedicated public servant: US President Biden on the passing of Dr. Manmohan Singh

US President Joe Biden expressed condolences on the passing of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recognizing his contributions to US-India relations and global cooperation. "Jill and I join the people of India in grieving the loss of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," President Biden said in an official statement from the White House on Friday. "The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the Prime ...

December 23, 2024 4:23 PM

Biden launches new US trade probe into legacy Chinese chips

The Biden administration on Monday announced a last-minute trade investigation into Chinese-made "legacy" semiconductors that could heap more U.S. tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from autos to washing machines to telecoms gear. The "Section 301" probe, launched just four weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, will be handed over to his administration in January for completion, Biden administration officials said. The effort could offer Trump a ...

December 20, 2024 4:08 PM

US to announce final package of new arms for Ukraine in coming days, sources say

The Biden administration will announce in the coming days its final Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, using up the remaining funds set aside to buy new weapons for Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The package includes air defense interceptors and artillery munitions, according to a third source, but the exact contents are expected when the package is announced in the coming days. The package will be worth about $1.2 billion, said the sources. Under USAI...

November 30, 2024 9:43 AM

Biden says his administration working with FBI on hoax threats to lawmakers, Trump cabinet picks

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that his administration was working with the FBI to address "swatting" and bomb threats made this week targeting lawmakers and several of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks. Rep. Seth Magaziner, a House Democrat from Rhode Island, said on Friday he was targeted by a bomb threat at home, a day after six Democratic lawmakers from Connecticut reported similar threats to their homes over the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Law enforcement in each case fou...

October 17, 2024 12:40 PM

Biden offers both a carrot and a stick to Israel as his term nears an end

In his final months in office, President Joe Biden is signaling new willingness to use U.S. military assistance to Israel as both a carrot and a stick to influence its high-stakes confrontation with Iran and Iran-backed militant groups. But while the approach increases Washington's involvement in Israeli decision-making just weeks before the US presidential election, it is unclear whether it will help achieve Biden's goals, including preventing a broader regional conflict and getting Israel to ...

September 25, 2024 11:51 AM

At UN for last time, Biden seeks to calm Mideast tension

U.S. President Joe Biden addressed world leaders at the United Nations for the final time on Tuesday, declaring that Russia's war in Ukraine has failed and that a diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah was still possible. With four months left in office, Biden stepped up to the green-marbled lectern at the U.N. General Assembly with wars in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and Sudan still raging and likely to outlast his presidency, which ends in January. He sought to calm tensions ...