Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Donald Trump’s press conferences were like a no-holds-barred cage matches, which he treated like a test of rhetorical pugilism. Joe Biden’s first appearance couldn’t be more different, stylistically.

Relying heavily on notes, he’s been calling on what appears to be a pre-arranged list of reporters. His answers have been slow and careful, like a man walking across the surface of a not-entirely-frozen lake. And there have been a few moments, as he fumbled for words, where it seemed like he might plunge into the depths below.

Image source, Getty Images

One of the themes of the conference so far has been a question of how Biden will navigate the slim Democratic majorities he has in Congress to get things done.

Biden and his Democratic allies have proposed major reforms on issues like voting rights and immigrations, but they have little chance of getting it done without some Republican support.

Democrats control 50 seats in the Senate, but most bills require a 60-vote majority to pass, because of a procedure known as the filibuster.

Biden has been repeatedly questioned about whether he supports getting rid of the filibuster - but his answers are slippery.

"I have never been particularly poor at calculating how to get things done in the Senate," Biden says, suggesting that he is open to getting rid of the filibuster.

"Our preoccupation with the filibuster is totally legitimate, but in the mean time, there is plenty we can do."

Several Democrats - including moderates - have proposed scrapping the filibuster, but Republicans have trashed the idea as a radical move that would alter the Senate forever.

Image source, Getty Images

Biden is asked whether he plans to run for re-election in 2024, noting that he has not yet set up a re-election campaign.

"The answer is yes, my plan is to run for re-election," Biden says. "That's my expectation."

The answer wasn't a given - some speculated that given Biden's advanced age he may bow out after a single term, and Biden himself has suggested he will act as a bridge to the next generation of Democrats.

He says that, if he runs, Vice-President Kamala Harris will stay on his ticket, but he has no idea who his Republican opponent will be.

"I've become a great respecter of fate in my life," he says, declining to speculate.

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, White House Correspondent

Is Biden losing it, or is he just being Biden? He seems at times to struggle while answering questions, and rifled through notes. But often, as a speaker, he rambles.

When asked about reparations for slavery in a Democratic debate in 2019, he talked about racial inequities, and ended up talking about schoolteachers, Venezuela and record players.

Today, Biden showed he was aware of this tendency, asking one journalist: “Am I giving too long an answer?”

He has also worked hard to smooth out his own style of speaking. He has acknowledged problems he had as a child, when he had a stammer.

Still, his critics say that his verbal missteps are more than verbal tics, calling him unfit for the presidency. Trump attacked him viciously, saying he has “dementia”. Biden’s supporters say these attacks are wrong, and cruel.

In short order, Biden can seem to regain his footing during a press conference - but people are watching closely to see what happens next.

Image source, Getty Images

Biden was just asked about how he will respond to provocations from North Korea, which recently tested ballistic missiles.

"What is your red line on North Korea?" asks NBC's Kristen Welker.

Biden begins by calling the missile tests a violation of UN rules.

"We're consulting with our allies and partners. There will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly.

"But I'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearisation."

He adds that he agrees with former President Obama, who warned Biden's predecessor when he first took office that North Korea was the world's top foreign policy issue.

Read more:

North Korea fires two ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan

Image source, Getty Images

The president is asked whether his messaging on immigration is encouraging, rather than deterring, migrants to cross the US-Mexico border.

"What a desperate act to have to take" he says, rejecting the question.

He says, as vice-president, he tried to work with Central America on the root causes of migration, such as gang violence and poverty. Migrants come to the US nevertheless, he says, because those problems remain.

When asked about the conditions migrants are living in, he sounds incredulous: "Is that a serious question? Is it acceptable to me? Come on."

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, White House Correspondent

Biden has said he wants to end forever wars. But, as he told a journalist today, he now acknowledges that troops are unlikely to come home in May, as once promised.

Progressives will be angry, and he tried to reassure them: “We will leave.”

Image source, Getty Images

Biden is asked when journalists will be allowed to access the cramped child migrant detention camps at the US southern border.

"I will commit when my plan is, very shortly, underway," he says, dodging the question.

"I will commit to transparency," he continues, adding, "you'll have full access to everything."

He said he would not commit to a timeline, and says the reason he has not personally visited the border is because, "I don't want to become the issue."

Image source, Getty Images

Reporters have challenged the president on why migrants are coming to the US - and some of them have told the BBC their reasons.

Some include:

Hope in Biden - “They told us that the US president would order the removal of all obstacles on our path,” 17-year-old Michael told BBC News as he travelled from his native Honduras.

Natural disaster - “Our houses collapsed with [Hurricane] Eta. We lost everything,” says Jacqueline, a pregnant 19-year-old walking to the US on foot.

Gang Crime - “We tried to start again with our business, but they demanded money from us. We were victims of extortion,” Jacqueline adds.

Central American Violence - “One needs to risk everything. But it is better to risk your life here,” says her husband Lionel on their journey through Mexico. “In Honduras you might get killed anyway”.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, the president is asked a question about the filibuster - a rule in the Senate requiring 60 votes to pass major bills.

Biden replies that the rule should revert to the way it was "when I came to the Senate 120 years ago".

He's 78 years old - but it was unclear whether this was a gaffe or a joke about his age.

Last week, he endorsed changing the rule back to a "talking filibuster" which requires a legislature to stand on the floor of the Senate in order to block the bill from passing.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Joe Biden very rarely mentions his predecessor by name, but when asked about his policy of admitting unaccompanied children into the US, that’s exactly what he did.

He wasn’t going to turn children away to starve, he said. “No previous administration did that either, except Trump,” he said. “I’m not going to do it.”

The president continues to be challenged on immigration. He uses the press conference to tout his decision yesterday to tapped his Vice-President Kamala Harris to lead his administration's efforts to tackle immigration reform.

Harris, a child of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is well suited to do the job due to her previous work as California attorney general, said Biden.

"She's the most qualified person to do it, to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle [Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador], and the countries that are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks - stemming the migration to our southern border," he told reporters.

As the BBC's Anthony Zurcher writes, it's a portfolio laced with political opportunity, or peril.

"If she succeeds, Harris defuses an issue that the Republican Party - and Donald Trump, in particular - has used as an effective political weapon against her party, earning the gratitude of influential immigration activists," writes Anthony.

"If she fails, the ensuing political fallout could derail the Biden presidency and overshadow all its early accomplishments."

Read more:

Biden tasks Harris with managing border

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Biden explains that a lot of what’s happening at the border right now is cyclical – that the numbers always go up in the spring, before the oppressive summer heat kicks in.

That’s certainly true, but the numbers at this point compared to previous years is dramatically higher. Something is driving a growing number of migrants – including unaccompanied young children – toward the US.

This surge may be a pattern similar to previous years, but it has the potential to be a much bigger wave – and the US government is struggling to handle it.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, Biden spent time touting new jobless numbers as proof that his administration's economic recovery plan is working.

He said the American Rescue Plan had already sent direct payments to more than 100 million people.

He also noted that the latest report on jobless claims has 100,000 fewer unemployed people than the previous report.

After speaking for several minutes about immigration policies, Biden interrupts himself to say: "Am I giving too long an answer?"

"Maybe I'll just stop there."

The answer, his second so far, came at the 12th minute of his press conference.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Biden, given the opportunity to detail what he wants to focus on next - immigration, gun control, voting rights, climate change – punts.

Calling them “long-term problems,” he turns back to the economy and the pandemic.

Yes, those are the two biggest challenges in the early days of his presidency, but if Americans are interested in learning what the president’s next big policy project will be, they are going to have to keep waiting.

Image source, Reuters

Biden is asked about immigration - a tricky subject about which he was expected to be challenged.

Why?

Under a public health order enacted due to the coronavirus, President Trump ordered anyone found crossing the southern US border to be summarily turned away.

Biden has kept that policy in place, but has changed it to allow unaccompanied child migrants to enter the country while their immigration request is being processed.

The change, coupled with a multitude of other factors, has resulted in over 17,000 child migrants, mostly from Central America, who are now being kept in US custody along the southern border.

The growing humanitarian crisis is quickly becoming the first scandal of the Biden presidency, and threatens to disrupt his other priorities in office.

Read more here:

Child migrants: What is happening at the US border?

Biden is asked by a reporter for the AP how he can tackle the many problems currently facing the country and whether his presidency will be a "success" without help from Republicans as well as Democrats.

"I got elected to solve problems. and the most urgent problem facing the American people," he says, is Covid-19 and the economic dislocation for many Americans."

He says he will address other problems too, including gun crime and immigration, but those issues have existed for a long time before he came into office.

"Here's the deal," he says using his signature phrase, "Republicans have to decide" whether to help with new legislation.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Not surprisingly, Biden is starting this press conference by talking about his record in pushing out the coronavirus vaccine. As he noted, the US leads the world in vaccinations – and he wants to be sure his administration gets credit for it.

Biden is starting with a flurry of facts and figures, talking about how many vaccines have been given and how many stimulus payments have been sent to Americans so far.

"That’s right, 200 million shots in 100 days," he said, doubling his initial goal.

"I know it’s ambitious – twice our original goal – but no other country has come close to what we’re doing."