Our colleagues on Americast, the American politics podcast, have released a post-debate episode.

"Many Americans will have looked on this debate with utter horror," says host Justin Webb, who watched in London. "It is a victory for Donald Trump and, frankly, it throws into question whether Joe Biden carries on."

Meanwhile fellow hosts - North America editor Sarah Smith, and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher - were in Atlanta.

"The Democrats knew it was a disaster," says Sarah. "They were literally running away from us."

Listen to the full episode here.

On Russian state TV, political talk show "60 Minutes" mocked the debate, referring to it as "a reality show about the lives of pensioners". The anchor concluded that it had been "disastrous for Joe".

Meanwhile in China, the state-owned Global Times also described the debate as “like, external a reality show, external”. Chinese audiences did, however, enjoy the pair going “off topic to discuss their golf skills, external”.

In Ukraine, news websites such as Ukrayinska Pravda, external and NV, external, as well as the national United News TV service, gave prominence to Trump’s remark that Putin’s conditions for ending the war were “not acceptable”.

Ukranian media generally agreed that Biden “lacked energy”. Biden failed to show voters that he can be the US president for another four years, the LB.ua website said, external.

The Hindustan Times in India said Biden's performance was "shaky" and he appeared to be "struggling and even froze several times". Trump showed "more aggression" and "capitalised on Biden’s missteps".

Finally in Turkey, the Hurriyet newspaper said: , external"Biden had difficulty understanding the questions and hesitated when answering."

Academic Hilmi Bolatoglu said in a post on X, external that Biden’s performance suggested a “new Trump era is approaching”.

On the daily Kremlin conference call I asked Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov whether Putin had watched the US presidential debate during the night (it began at 04:00 in Moscow).

“I don’t think you would expect the Russian president to set his alarm clock and wake up in the early hours to watch a debate in America," he replied.

"This event is not on our agenda," Peskov added. "We have lots of issues which are important for our country, which are topical for us. These are the issues our president deals with. Debates in the United States are not our priority.

"Nevertheless, we have seen media reports about this debate and we will familiarise ourselves with them in more detail."

Asked by another journalist to give his preliminary assessment of the debate, Peskov replied: "We are absolutely not going to give an assessment of this debate.

"Let me repeat: this is an internal matter for the United States. This is America’s election campaign. We never interfere with US election campaigns….and we don’t intend to this time."

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

With less than six months until the presidential election, last night's debate has sparked a fresh wave of can-Biden-bow-out speculation.

But even if Biden were to step down, the road to replacing him is long and winding.

All 50 US states have already held their presidential primaries. And in each one, Biden won nearly all of the "delegates" - the party officials who formally anoint the nominee at each party's convention.

The only person who could direct those delegates elsewhere is Biden himself - an unlikely scenario unless he drops out before the Democratic convention in August.

And even if Biden were to step down, Democrats would be left with another major problem: who should replace him?

Polls suggest Vice-President Kamala Harris would not be popular among the American public. But there is no other obvious alternative waiting in the wings who could defeat Donald Trump.

The dust is still settling from the Atlanta debate, and the Democratic hand-wringing continues:

• Claire McCaskill, a former Democratic senator from Missouri: "He had one thing he had to accomplish and that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed at that tonight," she told MSNBC
• Nicholas Kristof - a New York Times columnist who launched an unsuccessful bid to be the Democrats' candidate for Oregon governor - hoped Biden would "reflect on this debate performance and then announce his decision to withdraw from the race"

• But California Governor Gavin Newsom - a loyal Biden supporter - said there "shouldn't be panic". “This president has delivered," he said. "We need to deliver for him”
• And as for President Biden himself? Stopped by reporters on his way to a waffle house after the debate, he said: "I think we did well"

Image source, Reuters

"Trump corners Biden in tense debate," was how leading Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo, external headlined its report.

Biden’s "hesitant and confused performance… could radically change the scenario of the elections," Folha added.

Posting on X, prominent Mexican journalist Leon Krauze, external drew a similar conclusion, saying Biden "stumbled, lost his thread and was incapable of showing up the lies of his rival".

Meanwhile, Argentina’s La Nacion said, external that "the Democrat president was not able to dispel the doubts about his age and his health, and he set off alarms in his party".

Colombian daily El Tiempo, external saw the exchanges as "insults, jibes and few proposals" in which ”neither of the two appeared to overcome the concerns over their advanced age".

Meanwhile, Mexican news magazine Proceso, external focused on Trump asserting that the US had become a "nest of rats" because Biden's immigration policies had "opened the door to criminals, murderers and rapists".

• We'll have more media reaction from other parts of the world later today

One of Vice-President Kamala Harris's attack lines after the debate was that Trump "would not give a clear answer on whether he would stand by the election results".

Asked repeatedly by CNN moderator Dana Bash if he would accept this November's result, Trump avoided an unequivocal answer.

On the third attempt, Trump said he would accept the results "if it's a fair and legal and good election, absolutely".

The former president then repeated his unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Image source, Reuters

Here's a look back at one of the more surreal moments from the Atlanta debate.

As the conversation moved to - of all things - golf, President Biden said: "Look, I'd be happy to have a driving contest with him."

"I've seen your swing, I know your swing," Trump replied, adding: "Let's not act like children."

Donald Trump gave a confident performance in the Atlanta debate - but there were also clear falsehoods:

"He's got the largest deficit in the history of our country"

• Trump claimed that Biden has led the US to a record deficit. According to data from the US treasury, external, the deficit peaked while Trump was in the White House at $3.13tn (£2.48tn). By 2023, with Biden in office, it had declined to $1.7tn

"He wants open borders. He wants our country to be destroyed or he wants to pick up those people as voters"

• Joe Biden has never endorsed an open US border. When he took office, Biden did reverse some of Trump's immigration policies, including a programme that required migrants to remain in Mexico while waiting for their US asylum hearings. But Biden has embraced some restrictive policies

"The problem they have is they’re radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth, after birth"

• Trump said that some Democratic-run states will allow "babies" to be killed "after birth". This is not true. Infanticide is illegal in all 50 states. Even in states with expansive abortion access, abortions after 21 weeks pregnancy are rare and difficult to obtain - representing less than 1% of all abortions, external in the US

We earlier brought you Democratic reaction. Unsurprisingly, the Republicans are more upbeat - despite Trump's occasional evasions and false claims.

• House Speaker Mike Johnson says the debate was "the biggest mismatch" in history. "Only one of the men on the stage tonight is qualified and capable of being elected President in 2024," he writes
• Co-chair of the Republican National Committee - and Donald Trump's daughter-in-law - Lara Trump calls the debate "weakness vs strength". Trump "was calm, he was concise, he was direct"
• Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Arkansas governor who served as Trump's White House press secretary, says "America needs Donald Trump in the White House like Joe Biden needs a teleprompter"

• Even anti-Trump Republicans say he came out on top. Steve Schmidt, a former Republican political strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, says: "Biden lost the country tonight, and will not get it back. If Trump is a threat and democracy is on the line, then Biden must step aside"

Image source, Getty Images

Even the most loyal lieutenants know this was a disasterpublished at 08:24 28 June

08:24 28 June

Sarah Smith
North America editor, reporting from Atlanta

Just minutes into the debate, when Joe Biden's raspy voice and hesitant manner became obvious, Democrats across America started panicking, exchanging messages about possibly needing to change their candidate.

They hoped to see a vigorous performance, that would show voters Biden is not too old for re-election. They got the opposite.

As Biden tried to defend his immigration policy on the southern border, it was hard to even understand what he was saying.

Donald Trump faced some tough questions about the 6 January riot and his recent felony conviction. But Biden struggled to make his case on the issues he ought to be strongest, including abortion.

At the end, the two men vying to be president of the United States started arguing about who was the better golfer.

Prominent Democrats tried to put a brave face on it, suggesting Biden had a cold, and saying on the substance, he won the arguments.

But even the most loyal lieutenants know this was a disaster. Joe Biden had one job - to persuade Americans he wasn't too old. He failed that test.

In the first debate of the 2024 presidential race, Joe Biden hoped to silence concerns over his age and mental fitness. Instead, his 90-minute performance put those concerns on overdrive:

• Maria Shriver, former first lady of California and niece of John F Kennedy, says that while she "loves" Biden, the debate was "heartbreaking... there's panic in the Democratic party"
• The debate was "completely predictable", says Julián Castro, former mayor of San Antonio and member of President Barack Obama’s cabinet. "Biden had a very low bar going into the debate and failed to clear even that bar"
• Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary was more concise, says "the Dems should nominate someone else - before it's too late"
• Speaking to the New York Times, an unnamed veteran Democrat says the president will face a "crescendo" of calls to step down. "Joe had a deep well of affection among Democrats. It has run dry"

• But some Democrats, like Biden's running mate, Vice-President Kamala Harris, stayed publicly upbeat. "Yes, there was a slow start but there was a strong finish," Harris said on CNN

Image source, Getty Images

As we have reported, it was not a strong night for President Biden.

But he did land some shots - including this, on alleged comments from Donald Trump about US veterans:

Biden also brought up Trump's history with women - saying he has the "morals of an alley cat":

Image source, EPA

Joe Biden’s campaign was prepared to come out swinging after tonight’s debate against Donald Trump.

Instead, they were backed into a corner.

The campaign’s top surrogates wound up pinned at one end of the debate spin room by a mob of reporters on Thursday night, fielding questions about ousting 81-year-old Biden at the top of the ticket.

"Would you replace Biden?" a reporter shouted at California Governor Gavin Newsom.

The 56-year-old governor responded that he was “old fashioned,” and cared more about the “substance and facts” discussed rather than a frenzy over Biden’s energy.

It was not the conversation that Democrats hoped to have tonight. But Biden’s subdued performance during the 90-minute event sent Democrats into an immediate panic.

• Read more from Kayla here

Our correspondent Anthony Zurcher is in the spin room - where Democrats and Republicans are trying to push their post-debate messages:

Image source, Getty Images

David Axelrod, the Democratic strategist who masterminded Barack Obama's two presidential victories, has given a stark assessment of Joe Biden's performance.

"I think there was a sense of shock, actually, of how he [Biden] came out at the beginning of this debate, how his voice sounded," Axelrod said on a CNN debate panel.

"He seemed a little disoriented. He did get stronger as the debate went on but by that time, I think the panic had set in," he said.

Axelrod - who has not been shy with his critiques for the Biden campaign - has previously suggested the president should consider stepping down.

The reaction to the Atlanta debate is pouring in - and much of it is not good for President Biden.

David Plouffe - a Democratic strategist who orchestrated Barack Obama's campaign in 2008 - tells MSNBC's Rachel Maddow the debate was "kind of a Defcon 1 moment”.

(For those who don't watch disaster movies, the defense readiness condition is an alert system used by the US military).

Plouffe says Trump and Biden looked "30 years apart". As a reminder - Biden is 81, and Trump is 78.

It was pizza and potato salad at the Democratic watch party in Las Vegas - a very different vibe to the Republican event we attended earlier in a swanky restaurant.

Gay pride flags adorned the walls among the “Nevada for Biden-Harris” campaign posters.

There were groans and head shaking almost every time Trump spoke. Cheers came when Biden pointed out his record in office.

But the loudest reactions were laughs of ridicule when Trump said he “aced” two cognitive tests, and that he’ll challenge Biden to a golf match.

Trump saying “let’s not act like children” got even bigger cackles of derision.

Hand written voting pledges decorated the walls, with people stating the reasons they are voting for Joe Biden. Abortion rights featured prominently.

One simply said: "Because he did not tell me to drink bleach during Covid."

The CNN presidential debate has left lingering questions for the Biden campaign - and his team are in damage control.

Biden and Trump sparred on major topics like immigration, the economy and abortion rights.

But Biden's "slow start" (those are the words of his own vice president, Kamala Harris) have reportedly left some Democratic leaders worried.

Biden's raspy voice, which his team says is because he was ill, along with a moment where the president seemed to lose his train of thought (you can watch that in the video above), were not ideal optics.

Analysts piled on the president across most major US media outlets, saying there's a growing concern about Biden's chances in November. Republicans were quick to make those same points, while most Democrats - publicly - came out in support of the president.

The two men traded insults, attacked each other's policies and credibility, and at one point challenged each other's skills on the golf course.

Stay here for more analysis, clips, and reaction to the debate.