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WASHINGTON—The Commerce Department said Monday it was rescinding a list of prohibited transactions with TikTok and WeChat that were issued in September as the Trump administration sought to block new U.S. downloads of both Chinese-owned apps.The withdrawals came after President Joe Biden earlier this month withdrew a series of Trump-era executive orders that sought to ban new downloads of Tencent-owned WeChat and TikTok, and ordered a Commerce Department review of security concerns posed by those apps and others.The Commerce Department under Trump also had sought to ban other transactions that would have effectively banned WeChat’s use in the United States...

The White House on Monday blocked President Joe Biden from speaking with reporters about a signature administration effort on entitlements. The Biden administration kicked off a messaging push to promote the child tax credit, but Biden was not scheduled to speak to reporters. Families will begin receiving monthly payments in their bank accounts of $250 or more per child beginning in July, a massive entitlement program that comes as part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan. Biden was not part of the White House’s number one messaging strategy of the day. His daily schedule for Monday only featured a...

President Biden on Thursday signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, turning the oldest celebration of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. into the country’s newest national holiday. “Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments … they embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away, they come to terms with the mistakes they’ve made. In remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger,” Biden said at a signing ceremony at the White House attended by Vice President Harris, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other lawmakers. “The truth is, it’s simply not enough to...

Joe Biden's White House tried to put out the flames of a major transatlantic bust-up with Britain today after the president was accused of rebuking Boris Johnson for 'inflaming tensions' in Northern Ireland. Brexiteer Tories branded the 78-year-old Democrat 'senile' after he failed to side with the UK in its 'sausage war' bust-up with the EU. The US President instead used his diplomats to express 'great concern' over the conflict centred on post-Brexit trade rules agreed last year by both sides, which the UK is now seeking to change, the Times reported today. The US is said to have issued...

President Barack Obama said in an interview published Tuesday his former Vice President Joe Biden was finishing the work he began to redistribute wealth through programs like Obamacare. “I think that what we’re seeing now, is Joe and the administration are essentially finishing the job,” he said in an interview with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein. “And I think it’ll be an interesting test. Ninety percent of the folks who were there in my administration, they are continuing and building on the policies we talked about…”

President Joe Biden defended on Tuesday his decision to allow the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline to finish construction, arguing that blocking it would hurt his relationship with European countries. The Biden administration plans to scrap sanctions on the Russian company responsible for the pipeline, Axios reported last week, clearing the way for the project to continue. Biden spoke about the pipeline as he left the White House for a trip to Delaware, placing a priority on European interests, despite Republican senators condemning the project. “To go ahead and impose sanctions now would, I think, be counterproductive in terms of...

President Joe Biden expressed his desire for an Israeli ceasefire of operations against Hamas, after a growing force of leftist Democrats criticized his support of Israel.

The White House on Monday called an early afternoon lid on President Joe Biden’s public activities after an extended weekend at home in Delaware. The president ended his schedule of public events at 1:48 p.m. EST — after about four hours of work.

President Biden highlighted on Monday that for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation early last year, cases of COVID-19 "are down in all 50 states." But in a pitch to encourage unvaccinated Americans to get their shots, the president warned that "those who are not vaccinated will end up paying the price."

Remember the old 1970s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter"? It aired on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The president of the United States throughout half that period was the infamous peanut-farmer-turned-worst-president-ever Jimmy Carter. Perfect timing. Because 2021 is clearly the new 1977. The new version of that sitcom is "Welcome Back, Carter. Except Add Dementia." It stars our current president, Joe "Basement" Biden, as today's hapless, pathetic, destructive Jimmy Carter. Basement Biden and Jimmy Carter are alike in so many ways it's almost surreal. Both appeared to the naked eye as decent human beings. Both portrayed themselves as moderate Democrats. Both...

“I know nothing” was the comic catchphrase of Sgt. Schultz on Hogan’s Heroes. He occasionally varied or elaborated on it, adding “I see nothing.” In the clip below, for example, he declares, “I see nothing. I was not here. I did not even get up this morning.” After its customary warning to protect civilian life, the IDF took out the 12-story Jala Tower housing Hamas military intelligence offices as well as offices for Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. As far as I can tell from reports such as this photo-filled story in the Daily Mail, no lives were lost...

Israel's air strikes on the militant Hamas movement in Gaza have forced the Middle East on to Joe Biden's agenda amid new questions about how his emphasis on human rights applies to Palestinians. It has also laid bare the extent to which the Israeli right has been empowered in occupied East Jerusalem during the presidency of Donald Trump. Unrest there sparked wider battles, and could draw the Biden administration more deeply into the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict even after this latest seismic eruption abates. That's a prospect President Biden and his senior advisers would like to avoid. They've made clear their...

In a break with recent tradition, President Joe Biden will not be delivering the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame this year - although he was invited by the university to do so. On Tuesday, the university announced that its May 23 commencement speaker will be Jimmy Dunne, a finance executive and trustee of the university. During the last three presidential administrations, U.S. presidents or vice presidents have addressed the university's commencement in their first year in office, but that trend will not continue in 2021. Although a university spokesman told CNA that, as a policy, “we do...

BIDEN: “There’s been a lot of discussion since Friday report that people are being paid to stay home rather than go to work. We don’t see much evidence of that."

Psaki made the admission while being interviewed by CNN Senior Political Commentator David Axelrod on his podcast "The Axe Files," and claimed that she, at times, even tells Biden to not take questions from reporters. "That is not something we recommend. In fact, a lot of times we say ‘don’t take questions,'" she continued. Psaki then claimed the administration has kept from being distracted by avoiding having Biden do more consistent press conferences in which he would have to answer questions about certain topics Biden held his first solo press conference on March 25, the 65th day of his term,...

America's emerging limbo between a full-blown pandemic and a return to normal is throwing up new public health dilemmas that spark instant political fires -- like a fresh round of grandstanding over mask wearing. Top White House adviser Anita Dunn Sunday defended President Joe Biden over his continued use of a mask outdoors -- even though the practice appears to conflict with new and relaxed administration guidelines for fully vaccinated citizens. In comments that didn't necessarily clarify the situation, Dunn told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that "extra precautions" were being taken for the President and that...

US President Joe Biden removed sanctions on Friday that former President Donald Trump placed on two top officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reports France 24. The sanctions were among the previous administration’s more aggressive moves targeting international institutions and officials. Pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC blasted the move warning that it could have damaging affects on Israel who is the target of an investigation by the Hague for war crimes. In a tweet on Friday, AIPAC wrote: “We are disappointed the administration is revoking sanctions on the International Criminal Court officials who are pursuing a baseless and discriminatory attack...

BEIJING is using an "insidious" policy of coercion and pressure to assert its control over the South China Sea, a leading Asia analyst has said. China has long claimed sovereignty over the disputed waters, saying that the entire waterway up to the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan belongs to it. Beijing's claim is based on the U-shaped nine-dash line etched onto a map in the 1940s by a Chinese geographer. In 2016, an international court of arbitration dismissed China's territorial claims. Despite the ruling, the People's Republic has in recent years built artificial islands in the waters claimed...

The U.S. and Iran have agreed to take part in talks in Vienna next week in a bid to restore the nuclear agreement that was negotiated during the Obama Administration and abandoned by Obama's successor Donald Trump. Officials from Tehran and Washington will travel to Vienna next week as part of efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, although they will not hold direct talks, diplomats said on Friday. Even without face-to-face talks, which Tehran has ruled out, the presence of both of Iran and the United States in the Austrian capital would mark a...

A series of embarrassing incidents in recent days shows that while the left may control the media narrative, it’s not fooling Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin into thinking President Joe Biden is strong.Biden had a beyond-friendly interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, on March 16 in which he allowed Stephanopoulos to lure him into calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer” with “no soul.” It would be one thing if there were some purpose behind Biden’s hostile utterance about his Russian counterpart, but it didn’t appear tied to any strategic foreign policy goal.Other than...