Thanks for joining our coverage of President Joe Biden's White House press conference to mark his first year in office.

He took questions for 114 minutes from reporters in his second-ever formal press conference.

His top news lines were:

• He said that he believes Putin will "move in" the troops he has amassed on the border of Ukraine
• Despite having so far failed to enact much of his agenda, he denied "overpromising" and instead argued he has "outperformed" expectations, pointing to declining Covid deaths
• He said his signature Build Back Better social spending package may need to be split up into smaller chunks to get through Congress
• He took a defiant tone at times, saying at one point that he "does not believe the polls" that show him doing badly among moderate and independent voters
• He committed for the first time to keeping Kamala Harris as his running mate in a 2024 re-election campaign
• He said he regrets Democratic opposition to his domestic agenda, saying “I'm not asking for castles in the sky"
• The first-term Democrat was defending his record at a moment when his approval rating is sinking

Our coverage was provided by Kelly-Leigh Cooper, Bernd Debusmann and Max Matza. Our page was edited by Jessica Murphy.

The US president warned of a disaster for Putin if he invades Ukraine.

Biden takes questions... and then a few morepublished at 23:01 Greenwich Mean Time 19 January 2022

23:01 GMT 19 January 2022

Barbara Plett Usher
State Department Correspondent, BBC News

Mindful of complaints that he holds too few news conferences, President Biden extended this rare formal encounter with the press.

“I’m happy to stick around,” he said, looking at his watch.

He acknowledged that the pandemic had left Americans exhausted and demoralised, but insisted his administration had accomplished a lot.

He has answered questions about his policies with a command of technical detail and history, contradicting critics' claims that he’s mentally unfit to run the country.

His most memorable statements were on foreign policy, in particular his “guess” that the Russian president Vladimir Putin would “move in” to Ukraine because “he has to do something”.

He clarified that he doesn’t believe Putin wants full blown war, but openly admitted that something less than a major invasion could affect the unity over a Nato response.

Image source, Reuters

After 114 minutes standing at the podium, Biden's second-ever solo White House press conference has ended.

When a reporter thanked Biden for still taking questions, he responded: "I could still stand. I could do push-ups."

Biden has again defended his administration's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, explaining "confusing" directives as a function of increased knowledge about the virus.

He said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, is constantly "learning more".

"This is unfolding. It's a nature of the way diseases spread," he said.

During the news conference, the president has faced repeated questions about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the steps he is taking to address it.

Image source, EPA

Ahead of answering one of the few remaining questions of the news conference, Biden tells reporters that if they ask "easy questions, I'll give you quick answers".

Responding to a question on school closures and the possibility that closures could be a potent issue for Republicans in this November's mid-term elections, Biden answered simply: "I think it could be".

He then, however, said that he believes many Americans seek "reinforced views" from media outlets that support their beliefs.

"I find it fascinating. It's happening. And you all do it every day," he said.

Biden is asked why he did not expect fierce Republican opposition to his agenda, given the efforts conservatives took to block Barack Obama's agenda when Biden was serving as his vice-president.

"Why did you think they would treat you any differently?" asks the Yahoo News correspondent.

"They weren't nearly as obstructionist as they are now," argues Biden.

Two years into Obama's presidency, top Republican Mitch McConnell said in an interview that "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president".

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

In a brief statement sent during Biden's news conference, former president Donald Trump has criticised what he deemed "softball" questions from the White House press corps.

"How come Biden picks a reporter off a list, in all cases softball questions, and then reads the answer," Trump asked.

"I would never have been allowed to get away with that, nor would I have to!" he wrote.

Trump had a contentious relationship with the media and often characterised their questions as "fake news".

McClatchy's White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers asks what Biden will do to win over moderates and independents who voted for him in 2020, but have shown declining support for his agenda in recent polls.

"I don't believe the polls," Biden responds.

Biden is asked about a "new normal" in the age of Covid.

"I hope the new normal will be that we don't have 30-something million people not vaccinated," he says, referring to un-jabbed Americans.

Over the course of the year, the US has undergone three major waves of the virus, and more than 850,000 Americans have died from Covid - the highest recorded national death toll from the global pandemic.

Image source, bbc

Angry Biden hits out at question on voting speechpublished at 22:34 Greenwich Mean Time 19 January 2022

22:34 GMT 19 January 2022

Barbara Plett Usher
State Department Correspondent, BBC News

Biden has become angry over repeated questioning about his recent speech on voting legislation – in which he compared those who oppose it to segregationists.

He says there are things so consequential that one speaks from the heart as well as the head, and that’s what he was doing.

He upbraids the journalist who asked the question, telling him to go back and review the speech.

He adds the decision lawmakers make on voting rights will stick with them for the rest of their careers and after they’re gone.

"With great respect," James Rosen from the conservative network Newmax asks, why do polls show that nearly a majority of voters say "no" when asked "is Joe Biden mentally fit?"

He goes on to ask why voters have questions about his "cognitive fitness".

"I have no idea," a chuckling Biden responds, moving on to the next question.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Biden said China is not being transparent with regards to the origins of the Covid-19 virus.

Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump, repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as the "China Virus", and some have speculated that Beijing is hiding the true origins of the virus.

Biden added that he pressed China's president for "transparency" in a half-hour virtual summit in November.

"The fact is that they're just not being transparent on the coronavirus origins," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

"Whoa whoa whoa," Biden says, raising his hands amid a chorus of questions.

"We've only gone an hour and 20 minutes. I'm gonna keep going," he says, checking his watch.

"But let me get something straight here. Do you want to go for another hour or two?"

After reporters respond yes, he promises to answer another 20 minutes of questions.

"Why are you trying so hard in your first year to pull the country so far to the left?" asks Peter Doocy from Fox News.

"I am not Bernie Sanders. I am not a socialist," Biden responds, referring to the left-wing senator from Vermont.

"I am a mainstream Democrat."

Biden earlier referred to himself as a "capitalist".

Biden hints at Nato differencespublished at 22:24 Greenwich Mean Time 19 January 2022

22:24 GMT 19 January 2022

Barbara Plett Usher
State Department Correspondent, BBC News

Administration officials and Nato allies can’t be happy about Biden spelling out the alliance's differences so publicly and clearly. The relentless public messaging has been about unity. But the president has revealed the cracks beneath that, prompting a question about whether he’s giving Putin permission for an incursion.

Now the president has clearly stated what everyone privately knew – that Nato is united on what the response should be to an invasion, but not to an incursion: “There are differences in what countries are willing to do depending on what happens.

“If Russian forces cross the border killing Ukrainians, that changes everything."

Looking ahead at the next few years of his presidency, Biden has vowed to change tactics and do things differently.

His first change, he said, will be spending more time getting away from the White House and spending more time with the public.

Additionally, Biden said he will also increasingly seek experts from outside government – such as from academia – to seek “more input, more information and more constructive criticism” on what he should be doing.

Thirdly, Biden said that he will be “deeply involved” in the upcoming mid-term elections by helping raise funds and allow candidates to make their case.

Image source, Getty Images

He says the US was spending $1bn a week in Afghanistan and refers to the country as a "graveyard of empires" and says it was impossible to unify the country under one government.

"There is no way to get out of Afghanistan after 20 years - easily," he says. "Not possible, no matter when you did it."

"I make no apologies for what I did," he adds.

"We can't solve every problem and so I don't view that as a competence issue," he concludes.

Image source, Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images

Another question arises over the public's questioning of the "competence of government".

Given the messy rollout of 5G internet this week, the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan and a shortage Covid testing, "how is he restoring faith in the competence of government?"

Biden begins by addressing the controversial decision to leave Afghanistan.