Donald Trump

US Election 2020: Americans choose between Trump and Biden

Polls have opened in the east of the country after a long and bitter campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 100 million people have already cast their ballots in early voting, putting the country on course for its highest turnout in a century.

Both rivals spent the final hours of the race rallying in key swing states.

National polls give a firm lead to Biden, but it is a closer race in the states that could decide the outcome.

Biden and Trump make final pitches to voters

Mr Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania and Ohio, as Mr Trump toured the voting battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

National polls suggest a firm lead for Mr Biden in Tuesday's election.

But his lead is narrower in the handful of states that could decide the result.

More than 98 million people have already cast their ballots in early voting, putting the country on course for its highest turnout in a century.

In the US election, voters decide state-level contests rather than an overall single national one.

Donald Trump's son tests positive for Covid-19

Melania Trump says she also has now tested negative for Covid-19.

The White House initially said Barron Trump had tested negative after both his parents tested positive earlier this month.

However Melania Trump said on Wednesday subsequent test results showed Barron had also come down with Covid-19 but showed no symptoms.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is no longer capable of actively spreading Covid-19 and has been given the all clear to attend an upcoming town hall interview with NBC News without putting others at risk.

Trump-Biden Debate Descends Into Bickering and Chaos

Biden repeatedly called Trump a “clown” and told him to “shut up” as Trump talked over his answers. He called the president a “racist” after Trump defended his orders to end racial sensitivity training in the government.

Trump insulted Biden’s intelligence and jabbed the former vice president over unsubstantiated allegations about his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.

Biden called Trump “the worst president America’s ever had” and said that under his leadership “we’ve become weaker, sicker, poorer, more divided, more violent.”

     

Trump won't commit to peaceful transfer of power

"Well, we'll have to see what happens," the president told a news conference at the White House. "You know that."

Mr Trump also said he believed the election result could end up in the US Supreme Court, as he again cast doubt on postal voting.

More states are encouraging mail-in voting, citing the need to keep Americans safe from coronavirus.

Ginsburg Supreme Court: Trump to name nominee by week's end

The plan has launched a high-stakes battle with far-reaching political consequences ahead of the election.

Mr Trump would replace Ginsburg, a liberal stalwart who died on Friday aged 87, with a conservative.

Approval would cement a right-leaning majority on the court for decades.

The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court is a political decision in which the president chooses who is put forward. The Senate then votes to confirm - or reject - that choice.

Trump knocked down rankings, Bezos remains on top Forbes rich list

The aggregate wealth of the Forbes 400 list rose to a record $3.2 trillion, as the richest Americans continued to do well even though the pandemic has devastated the economy, which is short about 11 million jobs compared to where it was in February.

Trump warns Biden will 'demolish' American dream

Speaking on the final night of the Republican convention, the president depicted his opponent as "the destroyer of American greatness".

He said the Democrats would unleash "violent anarchists" upon US cities.

Mr Biden has a steady single-digit lead in opinion polls over Mr Trump with 68 days until voters return their verdict.

The end of the Republican convention heralds a 10-week sprint to election day, and the coming campaign is widely expected to be one of the ugliest in living memory.

TikTok boss quits as Trump's ban looms

The Chinese-owned firm has been accused of being a threat to US national security by the Trump administration.

Mr Mayer joined TikTok in June after leaving his role as Disney's head of streaming services.

TikTok was given 90 days to be sold to an American firm or face a ban in the US.

"In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for," Mr Mayer said in a letter to employees.

TikTok to launch legal action against Trump over ban

Mr Trump's executive order prohibits transactions with TikTok's owner ByteDance from mid-September.

Officials in Washington are concerned that the company could pass data on American users to the Chinese government, something ByteDance has denied doing.

The short video-sharing app has 80 million active US users.

TikTok says it has tried to engage with the Mr Trump's administration for nearly a year but has encountered a lack of due process and an administration that pays "no attention to facts".