US President Biden prepares to announce re-election campaign next week

Washington [US], April 21 : US President Biden and his team are preparing to announce his re-election campaign next week. The president's aides have been finalising plans to release a video for the president to officially launch his campaign, according to three people briefed on the plans, The Washington Post reported.

According to The Washington Post, Biden and his aides have decided to release the video on Tuesday to coincide with the four-year anniversary of Biden's 2020 campaign launch. The people briefed on the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, cautioned that the official announcement could be delayed.

Biden has for months signalled that he plans to run for a second term, but he has held off an official announcement, as he and his aides felt no urgency to launch a campaign, especially after a better-than-expected midterm performance by the Democrats dampened talk of a primary challenge.

The President's top aides have quietly undertaken extensive preparations for a run, holding regular meetings with the president and first lady since last year in the White House residence.

Two of Biden's top advisers, ta Dunn and Jen O'Malley Dillon, have been overseeing the re-election efforts, including interviewing staff for top roles, while the Democratic National Committee has funded research projects to study the election landscape.

The planned announcement would move the country one step closer to what could be an extraordinary presidential campaign.

The White House declined to comment.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said: "What I will say is that any announcement or anything that is related to 2024 certainly will not come from here."