Biden weighs treatment options after cancer diagnosis
Former President Biden is weighing his treatment options after being diagnosed with an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer, according to his personal office. NBC News' 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker has more.May 18, 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Bernie Sanders blames election loss on Kamala Harris listening to billionaires over the working class
Bernie Sanders has blamed Kamala Harris for her election loss to Donald Trump, saying she chose to cosy up to billionaires instead of addressing the issues faced by working-class Americans. The 83-year-old independent senator and former Democratic presidential candidate said while Joe Biden has faced plenty of criticism for the election loss, it was ultimately Harris's fault. 'A lot of the people are saying it was Joe Biden 's fault that Kamala Harris lost the election … not true. It was the fault of Kamala Harris and her consultants,' he said in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today program. 'They did not run a campaign designed to speak to the American working class.' Sanders said he 'absolutely' believed Harris could have won, but she did not talk about the needs of working-class Americans. 'I ran all over the country trying to elect Kamala Harris and beg them talk to the needs of the working class, talk about raising the minimum wage to a living wage, talk about real health care reform, talk about building the kinds of massive amounts of housing that we need, putting checks on landlords,' Sanders said. 'But they used their billionaire friends.' He said Harris spent more time with Republican conservative Liz Cheney 'almost than with anybody else', and billionaire businessman and 'Shark Tank' shark Mark Cuban was a vocal supporter and spokesperson. 'What is that message out to working class people?' Sanders said. 'To my mind, that was a campaign that absolutely should have been winnable. But it gets back to the fundamental issue that that campaign was also run by consultants and billionaires.' He continued: 'And bottom line here is the Democrats have to answer a very simple question: which side are you on? And that answer has not yet been made.' Sanders, who has been running a 'Fighting oligarchy tour' with popular Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that has drawn huge crowds across the United States, said the core issue in America today is that there was more income and wealth inequality in the country than ever before. He said the reason that Trump won the election was because the Democratic Party had not responded to that economic crisis. 'The average person out there who is working very long hours has less holiday time than many Europeans has, can't afford healthcare, can't afford to send their kids to college, childcare is a disaster in the United States,' he said. 'That person looks to Washington D.C. and says, 'hey what are you doing for me, I'm suffering, I'm hurting, and everything being equal … my kid is going to do worse than me'.'
The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Leavitt blasts Jill Biden over husband's health 'coverup'
"I think anybody looking again at the videos and photo evidence of Joe Biden with your own eyes and a little bit of common sense can see that this was a clear coverup," Leavitt responded. "And Jill Biden was certainly complicit in that coverup." More: Robert Hur defends characterization of Biden's memory in testimony to Congress: Recap Aides close to President Biden and his wife did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the growing calls from the Trump White House. The 82-year old Democrat announced last week that he'd been diagnosed with an "aggressive" Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Questions around the president's mental capacity reached a fevered pitch when former Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report in early 2024 about Biden mishandling classified documents after his time as vice president concluded in the Obama White House. Hur concluded that a potential criminal jury would find Biden to be a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory." Biden's performance during a June presidential debate with then-Republican nominee Donald Trump also raised questions about the Democrats' well-being, and he ultimately dropped out of the White House race in deference to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The Trump White House's focus on Biden echoes criticism from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. The Kentucky Republican has asked several high-ranking Biden administration officials and his physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, to appear for transcribed interviews to "uncover the truth" about Biden's "mental decline and potential unauthorized use of an autopen for sweeping pardons and other executive actions. Letters seeking testimony have been sent to staffers including former senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal, former Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden and former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini. Comer said during the last Congress that the Biden White House obstructed his committee's investigation into the president's mental capacity and refused to make aides available for depositions or interviews. "The American people demand transparency and accountability now," Comer said in a statement. According to a new book, Original Sin, written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson, one person familiar with workings of the administration said Biden was only one of five people running the country. During her May 29 briefing at the White House, Leavitt claimed there was documentary evidence showing Jill Biden was shielding her husband from public scrutiny. "She's still lying to the American people. She still thinks the American public are so stupid that they're going to believe her lies," said Leavitt. "And frankly, it's insulting, and she needs to answer for it."
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: Trump aims to exceed first term's weapons sales to Taiwan, officials say
WASHINGTON/TAIPEI, May 30 (Reuters) - The United States plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taipei to a level exceeding President Donald Trump's first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the democratic island, according to two U.S. officials. If U.S. arms sales to Taiwan do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump's commitment to the island. It would also add new friction to the tense U.S.-China relationship. The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they expect U.S. approvals for weapons sales to Taipei over the next four years to surpass those in Trump's first term, with one of the officials saying arms sales notifications to Taiwan could "easily exceed" that earlier period. They also said the United States is pressing members of Taiwan's opposition parties not to oppose the government's efforts to increase defense spending to 3% of the island's budget. The first Trump administration approved sales of approximately $18.3 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan, compared with around $8.4 billion during Joe Biden's term, according to Reuters calculations. The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei. Even so, many in Taiwan, which China claims as its own, worry that Trump may not be as committed to the island as past U.S. presidents. On the election campaign trail, Trump suggested Taiwan should pay to be protected and also accused the island of stealing American semiconductor business, causing alarm in Taipei. China has vowed to "reunify" with the separately governed island, by force if necessary. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. The U.S. officials said administration officials and Trump himself were committed to "enhancing hard deterrence" for Taiwan. "That's where the president is. That's where all of us are," one U.S. official said, adding that they were working closely with Taiwan on an arms procurement package to be rolled out when Taiwan secured domestic funding. Taiwan's Presidential Office told Reuters the government is determined to strengthen its self-defense capabilities and pointed to its proposals to increase defense spending. "Taiwan aims to enhance military deterrence while continuing to deepen its security cooperation with the United States," Presidential Office spokesperson Wen Lii said. Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment on any new arms sales, but reiterated previous remarks by the island's defense minister, Wellington Koo, about the importance of "solidarity and cooperation of democratic allies." Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) aim to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP this year through a special defense budget. But the island's parliament, controlled by opposition parties the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), passed budget cuts earlier this year that threatened to hit defense spending. That triggered concerns in Washington, where officials and lawmakers have regularly said the U.S. cannot show more urgency over Taiwan's defense than the island itself. "We're messaging pretty hard (in Taipei) to the opposition. Don't get in the way of this. This isn't a Taiwanese partisan question. This is a Taiwanese survival question," one of the U.S. officials told Reuters. Three people in Taiwan with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed that the U.S. government and U.S. congressional visitors have been pressing the opposition parties in Taiwan not to block defense spending, especially the coming special defense budget, which is expected to be proposed to parliament later this year. "As long as they knew there were people from the opposition in the room, they directly asked them not to cut the defense budget," one of the people said. Alexander Huang, director of the KMT's international department, told Reuters it was "beyond question" that the party firmly supports increasing the defense budget and its "doors are open" to the U.S. government and the ruling DPP for consultations. "Supporting an increased budget does not mean serving as a rubber stamp, nor does it preclude making adjustments or engaging in negotiations regarding the special budget proposals put forth by the DPP administration," he added. The much smaller TPP said it has "always had smooth communication with the U.S. side and has continued to engage in in-depth dialogue on issues such as national defense and regional security." Reuters reported in February that Taiwan was exploring a multi-billion dollar arms purchase from the U.S., hoping to win support from the new Trump administration. New weapons packages are expected to focus on missiles, munitions and drones, cost-effective means to help improve Taiwan's chances of rebuffing any military action by China's much larger forces. For years, China has been steadily ramping up its military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over the island that is home to critical chip manufacturing vital to the global economy. Separately, one of the U.S. officials said the Trump administration would not object to a transit this year through U.S. territory by Lai, whom Beijing labels a "separatist." Past visits to the United States by Taiwanese officials have triggered angry objections by China, which sees such trips as inappropriate given that the United States has diplomatic relations with Beijing, not Taipei. Taiwan's presidential office spokesperson Lii said there are currently "no plans for a presidential transit through the United States at the moment."
