Biden goes into the lion's denpublished at 00:24 British Summer Time 12 July 2024

00:24 BST 12 July 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Joe Biden has held so few solo press conferences during his presidency that his appearance tonight is by itself a notable event.

But tonight is much more than that.

The president faces a Washington press corps that is in full frenzy, fixated on the only story in town - Biden’s health and the future of his re-election campaign. Many reporters feel misled by this White House about the president’s capabilities and frustrated that their attempts to question his health have been met with official derision.

Biden’s performance tonight will be key for setting the environment for the days to come. Stumbles akin to his debate showing two weeks ago could prompt top Democrats - who have been coy or silent about the president’s fate so far - to speak out against him. While the decision to stay in the race still ultimately rests with Biden, he would be hard-pressed to continue a campaign while at war with the party's elites who have largely stood by him so far.

A serviceable or even well-executed performance will only be just the first of many hurdles he has to clear, however.

There’s the possibility that more Democrats are poised to break with the president once the Nato summit concludes, the president also faces another high-profile interview on network television on Monday, and there are new reports of donor anxiety as well as dissent within Biden's own campaign.

It is a long road ahead for the president, even in the best of scenarios for him.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

Joe Biden's news conference today will be a high-stakes moment for the US president, coming as he faces mounting calls from some Democrats and political allies for him to step aside as the party's candidate in the upcoming election.

Here's a few of the things that we'll be watching for at the news conference.

• Biden's performance will at least partially be judged by how long it lasts, and how many questions he fields. A quick exit would likely open him up to further criticism from his detractors.
• How he responds to questions about Democrats calling on him to step aside could be a key takeaway from tonight. He has so far dismissed any suggestion that he will do so, and it will be interesting to see whether or not he maintains his position.
• After the disastrous debate against Donald Trump, Biden was criticised for appearing to lose his train of thought, which he later blamed on fatigue. All eyes will be on his demeanour tonight.
• The president may also be asked - again - if he is willing to take a cognitive test. He has so far resisted these calls, saying that "every day" is a test when one is president.
• A key question will likely be whether he sees any scenario or situation in which he decides that he will step out of the race.

Gary O'Donoghue
Senior North America correspondent

Joe Biden is set to field questions from reporters about his fitness to run for president again, as more Democrats join calls for him to step aside.

The news conference at the end of the Nato summit in Washington tonight will be the president's most unscripted appearance since the debate with Donald Trump last month, in which he appeared to lose his train of thought several times.

In many ways, the White House has set the president an impossible task - a press conference on which everything now seems to ride.

It's his first in eight months - and few would argue that Biden was a gaffe-free performer even at the height of his powers.

The problem he faces is that so much has already been said that it would require a performance of gargantuan proportion to turn around this seemingly inexorable narrative.

But Biden is hoping he has managed to shore up support domestically and quieted dissent within his own party, after sending his advisers to meet Democratic senators ahead of the event.

The loyalists - an ever-diminishing number - continue to argue the party is best placed to stick with Biden as their nominee.

That optimism feels like clutching at straws, however. Political leadership can evaporate in a moment, and Joe Biden is just having too many of those moments right now.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky's press conference at the Nato summit in Washington DC has been cancelled. He was scheduled to speak to reporters tonight.

US President Joe Biden is still expected to answer reporters' questions at a news conference later this evening. Stick with us as we bring you all the news and analysis from that.

We've told you about the mistake Biden made when introducing Volodymyr Zelensky at a news conference - he called the leader of Ukraine "President Putin".

But the pair weren't the only ones on stage as other world leaders attending the Nato summit in Washington DC stood nearby. Video of the awkward moment posted online shows several of them wincing and turning to look at one another.

Vladimir Putin is the leader of Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the Nato military alliance has been a major backer of Kyiv's cause.

Kayla Epstein
Senior US reporter

A few beats after Biden shocked the Nato conference by mistakenly mixing up Zelensky's and Putin's names, the US president caught his mistake and tried to brush it off with a joke.

He says he meant that Zelensky would "beat President Putin."

"I'm so focused on beating Putin, we gotta worry about it," he said.

Zelensky stepped in to move past the gaffe as well.

“I’m better,” he said.

“You are a hell of a lot better," Biden replied.

You can watch the moment Biden misspoke in the video at the top of this page.

Meanwhile, at a separate Nato news conference, the BBC's political editor Chris Mason has just asked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer about Biden's slip a few minutes ago, in which he mistakenly introduced Ukraine's President Zelensky as "President Putin".

Starmer reiterated Nato's support of Ukraine and said Biden deserves "credit" for his support of Kyiv, but did not comment directly on the president's gaffe.

"I would urged everyone to look at the substance of what's been achieved over these two days, we have a bigger Nato, more countries, we have a stronger Nato, we have a real sense of resolve," Starmer said.

Starmer said after meeting Biden at the White House last night that the president was "on really good form" despite recent concerns about his mental fitness.

Biden's particularly painful mistake raises stakes further before news conferencepublished at 23:14 British Summer Time 11 July 2024

23:14 BST 11 July 2024

Anthony Zurcher
Reporting from the Nato summit

Joe Biden hasn’t made it to his press briefing here at the convention centre in Washington DC yet, but he’s already committing damaging gaffes.

The president has referred to foreign leaders by the wrong name before, but introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin is a particularly painful mistake.

Biden quickly corrected himself, but at a critical moment in his campaign – when all eyes are on his performance – it was the kind of stumble that will give Democrats fits.

And that was scripted Biden. He was reading from a teleprompter in a set-piece event, which has, for the most part, been a manageable task for the president. In about an hour, he will have to go off-script – answering questions from reporters in what is, even in the best of times, a chaotic setting.

The pressure on the beleaguered president is growing by the minute.

Tom Bateman
Reporting from the Nato summit

An audible gasp just went up in the media centre here as President Biden introduced Ukraine’s leader to the stage, calling him “President Putin”.

Within moments, Biden walked back to the microphone and corrected himself saying: “President Putin? We’re going to beat Putin,” then correctly introducing him as President Zelensky.

The moment was being broadcast on huge screens here in the international media centre where the slip up caused the stunned reaction.

Image source, Reuters

Biden just finished speaking at the Nato summit alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

When introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden mistakenly called him "President Putin".

"Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin," he said.

He quickly corrected himself, before Zelensky took the microphone.

"President Putin?" Biden said, correcting himself. "President Zelensky. I'm so focused on beating Putin."

Biden was reading from the teleprompter. These remarks were separate from his upcoming press conference.

Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia.

Ahead of his press conference later today, Joe Biden is speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about Nato's support of Ukraine, saying Kyiv has a pathway to joining the military alliance.

"We are united behind Ukraine," he says.

Yesterday, Nato endorsed an "irreversible path" to membership for Ukraine.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

Ahead of tonight's highly anticipated news conference, some of Joe Biden's top advisers met with Democratic lawmakers in a bid to reassure them about his path to re-election and fitness for office.

Sources told CBS, the BBC's US partners, that long-time Biden speechwriter Mike Donilon, Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president attended the lunch meeting with senators.

The meeting took place behind closed doors, and lawmakers told reporters that they agreed to not discuss details.

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, however, said that the Biden staffers had outlined an "aggressive plan" for the election, adding that when asked whether the president would stay in the race, they "certainly didn't show anything to the contrary".

Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal - who on Wednesday said that he was "deeply concerned" about Biden's chances of beating Donald Trump - said after the meeting that his "concerns remain" and that he needs to "hear and see more".

He characterised the meeting as "constructive, serious, frank".

Senator Pete Welch - the only Democrat in the Senate to publicly call on Biden to step aside - said that the meeting did not change his position, according to Axios.

All eyes on today’s press conferencepublished at 22:09 British Summer Time 11 July 2024

22:09 BST 11 July 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Today's latest spate of Democratic lawmakers asking for Biden to step aside comes after it appeared that Biden's chances had turned a corner, with the influential Congressional Black Caucus and key liberal members of Congress voicing their support for him.

But now the ground has shifted once again - and all in the midst of a high-profile Nato summit with US allies here in Washington.

The drumbeat of defections makes the stakes for Biden’s press conference at the end of the Nato summit later today even higher.

It will be the biggest unscripted test for him since his botched debate two weeks prior which triggered this crisis.

Biden also has a sit-down interview scheduled with NBC News presenter Lester Holt on Monday.

A fumble or misstep in the days ahead could buttress all the most damaging assertions Mr Clooney, a top Democratic fundraiser, made in yesterday’s New York Times piece.

Read more from Anthony here:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3g07ng2mn1o

Representative Brad Schneider of Illinois became the latest member of Congress to call on Biden to step aside.

He said in a statement that the time had come "for President Biden to heroically pass the torch to a new generation of leadership to guide us to the future he has enabled and empowered us to pursue".

Schneider represents parts of Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention will be held next month, which could be of concern for the Biden campaign.

Schneider isn't the only Chicago-area representative to call speak out against the president's re-election campaign, however. Representative Mike Quigley made the same plea earlier this week.

Separately, Representative Ed Case of Hawaii also joined the chorus of voices calling on the president to step aside.

There's now at least a dozen congressional Democrats who have called on Biden to leave the ticket.

Some US media outlets report that close allies of Biden - including people who are working to get the president re-elected - worry he can't win the November election against Donald Trump. Some of those allies are even discussing how to convince the president to step aside, according to the reports.

NBC News, external reports that three unnamed people who are directly involved in efforts to re-elect the president told the news outlet that Biden's chances of winning are zero

“He needs to drop out,” NBC cites an unnamed Biden campaign official as saying, “He will never recover from this.”

The New York Times, external is reporting a similar sentiment among three unnamed staffers, whom the newspaper cites as saying that there is a group of advisers within the campaign and the administration who are becoming increasingly convinced Biden will need to step aside as the Democratic candidate.

The White House denied the Times' report, the newspaper says.

The Times' sources also said some of those doubtful advisers are talking about how they might persuade the president himself that he should stand down.

And ABC News , externalis also confirming a separate New York Times report, external that Biden's campaign is testing hypothetical polling in which Vice-President Kamala Harris is matched head-to-head against Trump, citing an unnamed person "familiar with the strategy."

Image source, Getty Images

Yet another House of Representatives lawmaker has called on Biden to drop out of the race.

In a lengthy statement posted on X, Michigan Representative Hillary Scholten says Biden has an "incredible" legacy, but the American people can't "unsee" what they witnessed with Biden's performance on the debate stage two weeks ago.

"With the challenges facing our country in 2025 and beyond, it is essential that we have the strongest possible candidate," she says.

Scholten joins over a dozen House lawmakers who have also asked Biden to step aside, but she is among the first lawmakers from prominent 2024 swing states to urge Biden to drop out.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

Image source, HANDOUT from the Hungarian prime minister's office

Former President Donald Trump will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Florida on Thursday following the Nato summit.

Citing sources familiar with the plans, Politico and the New York Times have reported that the meeting will take place at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and resort in Palm Beach.

The two leaders have had a warm relationship for years, with the Hungarian Prime Minister publicly endorsing Trump's re-election bid.

Orban - considered a favourite among US conservatives - visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago as recently as this spring. He has also previously visited Trump at his other club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

In an interview with Axel Springer this week, Orban described Trump as a "a man of peace", adding that he believes there is a "very, very high chance" that President Joe Biden will not win the election.

The meeting between Orban and Trump comes after the Hungarian PM made a series of foreign trips, including a surprise visit to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

Orban is the longest-serving EU leader and the EU's only head of government to have kept close ties to Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Image source, Reuters

It’s been a week of chaos for Democrats as a growing group of politicians urge Biden to step aside from the presidential race.

Biden’s Republican opponent, Donald Trump, has been taking advantage of the divisions this week.

During a rally on Tuesday in Doral, Florida, he made fun of Biden’s debate performance and said the Democratic Party was “divided in chaos”.

“Despite all the Democrat panic this week, the truth is it doesn’t matter who they nominate because we are going to beat any one of them in a thundering landslide.”

He also took to social media to slam actor George Clooney, who urged Biden to step aside in an op-ed this week while also calling him a “hero”.

Trump said Clooney was a “fake actor” who should “get out of politics and go back to television”.

Today, Trump will meet with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is in the US for the Nato summit.

Image source, Getty Images

Biden and Zelensky recently finished up their bilateral meeting at the Nato summit.

During the meeting, Biden pledged to be there "every step of the way" for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

The president also reiterated that the US would be sending Ukraine F-16 jets this summer, while Zelensky said the country was counting on the US to help them beat Russia.

The Ukrainian president is headed from Washington, DC to Salt Lake City, Utah, tomorrow for the National Governors Association’s summer meeting.

You can follow Nato updates in our separate live coverage here.