We'll be watching the White House news briefing, which is scheduled to begin shortly.

It is expected to cover the Nato Summit in Washington, but reporters will likely ask questions about Biden's troubled candidacy.

Stick with us, as we hear from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and national security spokesman John Kirby.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

I've just arrived at the White House, and it's already clear that it's going to be an unusual week here.

In Lafayette Park, just across the street, extra security is being erected ahead of this week's Nato summit. Police cars and dump trucks are blocking roads, and an ominous looking black metal fence is being installed to keep people away from the park.

At the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door, a massive Nato flag is flying to welcome the dozens of heads of state and thousands of diplomats that are in town for the event.

At 13:30 EST (18:30 BST), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will give a news briefing, alongside national security spokesman John Kirby.

While the White House is likely to focus heavily on the upcoming Nato summit and the concerns of the alliance, many of the questions from reporters in attendance will surely be about calls for Biden to step aside as nominee - and his response.

Stay with us for more updates.

Kayla Epstein
Senior journalist

Image source, Reuters

Biden’s age - 81 - might be the most pressing number on the campaign’s mind right now.

But there’s a far lower number that he should be just as concerned about: 38%.

That’s the percentage of Americans who approve of the job Joe Biden is doing as president, according to a June poll from Monmouth University, external. The poll found 58% of voters disapprove of the job Biden doing.

Biden’s approval rating has been underwater since about April 2021, or most of his presidency, Monmouth's poll indicates.

“That not good,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. He said there was little historical precedent for a president with such low approval ratings winning re-election.

Meanwhile, opinions of Donald Trump’s 2017 to 2021 presidency has improved by a few points, Monmouth surveys have shown. The June 2024 survey found that 47% of Americans approved of Trump’s presidency, compared with 41% shortly after he left office in January 2021.

Murray called this “rosy retrospection” among voters. Their research showed that some voters known as “double haters” - who dislike both candidates - might be open to arguments from Biden that Trump is unfit to be president.

But he said the Biden campaign was likely not doing enough to remind voters of the rockiest moments in his predecessor’s term.

In his letter to congressional Democrats on Monday, President Joe Biden dismissed calls for him to step aside as the party's nominee and doubled-down on his intention to run for re-election.

Kayla Epstein
Senior journalist

Hovering over this entire presidential election cycle has been one issue that neither candidate can do anything about: their age.

Poll after poll after poll showed the age of the presumptive nominees was an issue, but that voters were far more concerned about Biden's 81 years than they were about Donald Trump's 78.

Last month's debate between the two candidates was a chance for Biden to show he was still fit to serve. Instead, it turned out to be a nightmare scenario for the campaign, with the president stumbling over multiple answers and sounding hoarse and fatigued.

As a result, age is now the issue for Biden, currently superseding his policy positions or his argument that Trump remains dangerous for American democracy.

"We have consistently seen in our polling that voters think that Joe Biden is less physically capable of doing the job than Donald Trump,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

"The point of the whole debate was that [the Biden campaign] were going to show that wasn’t true, put that to rest so you can move on, and it did exactly the opposite," Murray said.

"There’s not much he can do that’s going to change this," he added. "People saw what they saw on that debate stage."

Rachel Looker
Reporting from Capitol Hill

It's a sunny and very hot day on Capitol Hill here in Washington DC. Things are quiet this morning as lawmakers are set to return from their Independence Day holiday recess. It will be the first time they're back on the Hill since Joe Biden's debate debacle two weeks ago.

Both the House and the Senate are set to hold votes this evening.

After several House Democrats called for Biden to withdraw from the race, many are now wondering whether top Democratic leadership - including Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries - will comment publicly or broach the subject with the president.

Others Democrats are hedging - going so far as to admit that they have doubts whether Biden will be able to win in November, but not far enough to say he should step down as the Democratic nominee. Others have reportedly expressed concerns in private but have yet to say anything publicly.

It will be a hectic evening as reporters will have their first opportunity to pin down Democratic lawmakers who have been dodging questions and press them on where they stand.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

Even by the standards of Washington, Joe Biden has an extremely busy - and critical - week ahead.

For much of the week, his focus will be on the Nato summit which is being hosted in Washington DC.

The event - which will see dozens of other heads of state in attendance - is considered a key test of Biden's global leadership.

He has often touted the strengthening of Nato in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a key foreign policy achievement of his administration.

On Thursday, Biden is expected to address reporters at the event - and many of the questions are likely to be on calls for him to step down as a candidate in the wake of his poor debate performance against Donald Trump in late June.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Calls for Joe Biden to abandon his presidential re-election campaign were ignited by his lacklustre debate performance against Donald Trump.

Many had viewed the debate as a much needed chance for Biden, 81, to pacify concerns about his mental fitness and his ability to defeat Trump, 78, who often appears much more energized compared to Biden.

But Biden's delivery in Atlanta, Georgia on 27 June did quite the opposite.

During the 90-minute debate, the president often stumbled and searched for words. He appeared low on energy and stamina.

At one point, Biden said "we finally beat Medicare", a confusing statement about a federal program his Democratic party largely supports.

At another point, after muttering incoherently, Trump said: "I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, and I don’t think he did, either."

After the debate, Biden chalked the poor performance up to "a bad night", while his campaign blamed his weak showing on jet lag - though he had been back in the US for more than a week after international travel - and on the fact that the president was battling a cold.

Mark Buell, a prominent donor for Biden and Democrats, said after the debate: “Do we have time to put somebody else in there?”

Since then, the sentiment has only grown.

Image source, EPA

Concerns about President Joe Biden's age, 81, have long been a point of worry for Democrats.

Before his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June, multiple opinion polls had shown Biden's mental fitness as a top concern among voters.

His frequent pauses and loss for words during the debate left many Democrats - and voters - even more worried that the president was not mentally fit enough for another four years in office, nor fit enough to beat Trump in November.

But Biden has continuously refused calls to step aside.

Even before his letter to Congress on Monday vowing to see the "race to the end", the president had not shown any signs of letting up.

Since the debate, the Biden campaign has spent millions of dollars advertising in battleground states.

Biden has also attended multiple campaign events in states including Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

During his first televised interview after the debate, Biden told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday he would only quit his run "if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race.'"

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

In addition to his letter sent to congressional Democrats, Biden has also called into TV channel MSNBC's Morning Joe programme - an extremely rare live phone call from the US president.

In the brief phone call, Biden says that "the bottom line here is we're not going anywhere".

"I'm not going anywhere," he adds.

Echoing some of the language in his letter to Democratic lawmakers, Biden says the voters "spoke clearly" during the nomination process and that he believes that he is the "best" candidate to beat Donald Trump in the November election.

While live phone calls to broadcasters were a staple of the Trump administration, this appears to be the first time Biden has done so during his three-and-a-half years in office.

Some elected Democrats are calling on President Biden to dump his re-election bid, but the vast majority have not publicly aired concerns.

So far, five House Democrats have explicitly stated their support for Biden's exit.

They are House Representatives Angie Craig from Minnesota, Lloyd Doggett from Texas, Seth Moulton from Massachusetts, Mike Quigley from Illinois, and Raúl Grijalva from Arizona.

Capitol Hill observers are watching to see how quickly this number grows as members of Congress return from a break this week.

On Sunday, Biden held a private call with Democratic House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to address party concerns about his age and ability to beat Donald Trump in November.

During the call, four members of Congress were explicit in urging Biden to step aside, according to media reports, including from the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Jerry Nadler, Mark Takano and Adam Smith all said Biden should step aside, according to multiple outlets, citing people on the call or familiar with what was said.

There was some disagreement from media about who the fourth person to voice their discontent with Biden's candidacy on the call was: CBS and the New York Times said it was Joe Morelle from New York, but the Associated Press said it was Jim Himes from Connecticut.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

In his letter to lawmakers, Biden focuses heavily on the Democratic nomination process in which he received 87% of primary votes cast.

"This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run," Biden writes. "The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen be to be the nominee of the party."

"Do we now just say this process didn't matter? That the voters don't have a say," he adds. "I decline to do that".

Biden firmly brushes aside criticism from some lawmakers and donors, saying that "voters - and the voters alone - decide the nominee of the Democratic Party.

"How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party? I cannot do that. I will not do that," he says.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

US President Joe Biden has promised he will be "running this race to the end" of the November election, despite private calls from some Democrats that he hand his candidacy over.

In a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday, Biden says he "wouldn't be running again if (he) did not absolutely believe" that he could beat Donald Trump.

In the letter, Biden said he has "heard the concerns that people have" and "is not blind to them", but that Democratic voters in the primaries have "spoken clearly and decisively" that he should run.

“It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well intentioned,” Biden writes.

“I have no doubt that I - and we - can and will beat Donald Trump,” he says, adding that the time for questions on how to move forward has to end.

"We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump."