Good morning. Joe Biden’s performance at a high-stakes press conference later this evening will be under intense scrutiny as pressure on him to quit the presidential race mounts.
Even as the US president prepares to close this year’s Nato summit in Washington, Democratic donors are warning that funding for the November election effort is “drying up” because of his refusal to step aside, threatening to undermine the party’s effort to defeat Donald Trump.
The increasing willingness of wealthy backers to walk away from the campaign, mentioned in interviews with donors from Wall Street to Hollywood, poses a new existential risk to Biden’s re-election if he stays in a White House race expected to be the most expensive in US history. Here’s what longtime donors are saying.
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Twin blows: Party veteran Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that Biden had a “decision” to make about his future, and actor George Clooney called for a new nominee in an opinion piece for The New York Times.
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Support dips: On the day of the June 27 debate, national polling averages between Biden and Trump were tied. Since then, they have sharply diverged.
Will Biden stay, or quit? Sign up for our US Election Countdown newsletter for the latest updates on the presidential race. And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
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Nato summit: Biden called the UK “the knot tying the transatlantic alliance together”, tacitly endorsing Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for closer EU ties, while the first donated F-16 fighter jets are expected to reach Ukraine soon. Read our FT View on the military alliance’s difficult 75th year as its gathering in Washington concludes.
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Economic data: The US and Germany report June inflation figures while the UK publishes its May GDP estimate. The International Energy Agency has its oil market report.
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Companies: Updates are expected from Hays, Severn Trent, Wood Group and Workspace Group, while PepsiCo and Jet2 have results.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: PwC has warned its 26,000 UK staff that it will pay lower bonuses in some divisions and hand out smaller salary increases as the Big Four firm battles “challenging market conditions”. PwC has also curtailed a pandemic-era perk of allowing staff to take a half-day on Fridays during the summer, reducing the benefit from eight weeks last year to six weeks. Simon Foy has more details from London.
2. Investors are selling out of the riskiest US junk bonds in favour of higher-quality debt, with the gap in borrowing costs of the most and least risky debt growing almost to its widest since last May. The trend comes amid a surge in bankruptcy filings and concerns over how the weakest corners of corporate America will survive a prolonged period of high interest rates. Read the full story.
3. Viktor Orbán’s solo trip to see Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week contravened EU treaties which forbid any “measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union’s objectives”, the bloc’s legal service said according to people familiar with the matter. The people added that the Hungarian premier also violated a legal provision that calls on all members to perform foreign policy activities “unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity”.
4. Regulators have approved the biggest overhaul of rules for London-listed companies in three decades as the UK attempts to revive its capital markets, which have been pummelled by international competition and an outflow of investment. The new regime will come into force on July 29. Here’s what the changes announced today entail.
5. Citigroup will pay $135.6mn to US banking regulators for compliance failures in risk control and data management, the latest black eye for the lender and its chief executive Jane Fraser, whose tenure has been plagued by regulatory issues. Here’s more on the “long-standing deficiencies” at the bank.
The Big Read
As the eyes of the world have been focused on the devastation in Gaza, the Israel-occupied West Bank has been hit by a combination of surging settler violence, escalating military raids, intensified settlement expansion and stifling economic pressure. The moves have accelerated the decades-long entrenchment of Jewish settlements — which most countries consider illegal. The result has been to further undermine the tottering Palestinian Authority, just as the international community is pushing for it to administer both the West Bank and Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas is over.
We’re also reading . . .
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UK immigration: The new Labour government faces a familiar trade-off between the economics and the politics of foreign workers, writes Alan Beattie.
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Emmanuel Macron: A weakened French president distracted by domestic problems is proving even less palatable to Europe than one who used to ruffle feathers with his bold schemes.
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War in Ukraine: Kyiv has released thousands of convicts to bolster its forces, after being initially reluctant to copy a tactic Russia adopted early in its invasion.
Chart of the day
The number of millionaires is set to rise in 52 out of 56 countries by 2028, according to a study by UBS. The UK and the Netherlands have bucked this worldwide trend, with Britain expected to lose the most millionaires of any country.
Take a break from the news
Renovating your home? FT Weekend columnist Luke Edward Hall recommends asking yourself what stories you want your house to tell — taking into consideration its style, age and layout — then let them run wild.
Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith
Read the full article here