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Biden Warns that an Oligarchy is Forming that Threatens US Democracy

US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 15 January 2025. EPA/MANDEL NGAN / POOL
US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 15 January 2025. EPA/MANDEL NGAN / POOL
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Biden Warns that an Oligarchy is Forming that Threatens US Democracy

US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 15 January 2025. EPA/MANDEL NGAN / POOL
US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 15 January 2025. EPA/MANDEL NGAN / POOL

President Joe Biden said an oligarchy is forming in the US that threatens democracy, issuing the bleak warning on Wednesday in his final Oval Office speech as he prepares to hand over power to Donald Trump next week.
Biden opened his speech with a familiar message - asking Americans to join together - but quickly warned about a dangerous concentration of wealth in the United States.
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," Biden said.
He warned of a "tech industrial complex" that is bringing an "avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power." The free press, he added, "is crumbling."
Biden's farewell address, capping half a century in politics, sought to bolster a legacy that has been overshadowed by Democrats' failure to stop the Republican Trump from returning to the White House, Reuters said.
Trump, who takes office at noon (1700 GMT) on Monday, has enlisted billionaire Elon Musk, who helped his election efforts, as a special adviser charged with cutting costs from the federal government.
Trump has nominated a slate of cabinet members who have pledged to upend traditional American alliances and governing norms. The November 2024 election left the Democratic Party with little leverage in national politics.
Biden ran for president in 2020 as a transition figure, but opted at the unprecedented age of 80 to run for reelection, convinced he was the only Democrat who could beat Trump.
Forced out of the race in July after a disastrous debate against Trump, Biden has been blamed by some Democrats for their November wipeout, after Vice President Kamala Harris' whirlwind campaign lost every battleground state.
Biden and his allies oversaw the recovery from COVID-19, funded an infrastructure revival, sparked new semiconductor chips manufacturing, and tackled climate change as they tried to rebalance inequality and invest in the future. He leaves an outperforming US economy and optimistic businesses.
But Biden was unable to heal divisions in the country the way he had hoped, or stop democratic backsliding around the world. Now the Republican president-elect has vowed to undo much of what the Democratic administration accomplished.
"All Joe Biden wanted was to be remembered for the great things he did for this country and, at least in the short run, they've been eclipsed by his ill-conceived decision to run," said David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama.
"He became a historic president when he defeated Trump. So obviously the fact that Trump is resurgent and returning to power, more powerful than he was when he left, is an unhappy coda to the story."
BIDEN DEFENDS HIS RECORD
Biden addressed what he described as an ongoing threat to the country in a letter released early Wednesday by the White House.
"I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case," he said, urging Americans to keep fighting for the country's focus on equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A White House official said legacies are set over the long term.
“In historical terms, it has been a millisecond since the election. This president has locked in the most significant legislative record since LBJ (President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s), and the irreversible benefits of those laws will grow over decades," the official said.
Senator Chris Coons, a longtime ally, said that when Biden took office he faced an economic crisis, a public health crisis, and a democracy crisis following the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters.
"The country was in the depths of crises. The recovery from that pandemic has been his single greatest accomplishment," Coons said.
Biden's administration oversaw the distribution of COVID vaccines and an economic recovery that defied predictions of a recession, even as inflation soared and prices remained high, which soured voters on his economic stewardship.
Republicans capitalized on public frustration in last year's election, accusing Democrats of elitism and disconnect from working-class voters, while blaming immigrants for high prices, despite a lack of evidence.
“You cannot reverse four and a half decades of rising inequality with a few years of absolute good economic outcomes and policy changes,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute. “But one of the most fundamental things they did was provide relief recovery at the scale that was needed to generate a strong jobs recovery."
AFGHANISTAN, ISRAEL
Biden, who spent more than three decades in the US Senate and eight years as vice president to Obama, cites a unified Western response to Russia's war with Ukraine, the strengthening of alliances and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as key foreign policy achievements.
Thirteen US military personnel died during the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021, and Biden's popularity never recovered.
His staunch support for Israel in its war in Gaza after the deadly Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, split the Democratic Party, and Biden's reputation with the left suffered.
Vincent Rigby, a former senior national security adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said Biden would forever be remembered as an "interlude" president despite his solid achievements in rebuilding trust in the United States after Trump’s first term.
“We’ll see how history treats him five, 10, 15 years from now, but he’ll be seen as the president between the two Trump presidencies. He held the line, but Trump came back.

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World

Türkiye’s Erdogan Distances Govt from Main Opposition Crisis, Warns Against Unrest

30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after talks at the presidential palace. (dpa)
30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after talks at the presidential palace. (dpa)
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Türkiye’s Erdogan Distances Govt from Main Opposition Crisis, Warns Against Unrest

30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after talks at the presidential palace. (dpa)
30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after talks at the presidential palace. (dpa)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the government would not be drawn into disputes within Türkiye's main opposition CHP and would not allow unrest on the streets, in ‌his first ‌public comments ‌since ⁠a court ruling last ⁠month annulled the party's 2023 congress and removed its leadership.

The court ruling effectively reinstated former CHP ⁠chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a divisive ‌figure ‌within the party who ‌lost a presidential election ‌to Erdogan in 2023.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said ‌the government had no part in a ⁠political ⁠and legal struggle that had "spilled from party congress halls into court corridors" and would not allow "the streets to be thrown into turmoil" or the public to be pitted against security forces.

World

Mandelson Documents Cast Light on Government Work, Appointment of US Ambassador

Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is pictured as he walks his dog near his residence in central London on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is pictured as he walks his dog near his residence in central London on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Mandelson Documents Cast Light on Government Work, Appointment of US Ambassador

Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is pictured as he walks his dog near his residence in central London on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is pictured as he walks his dog near his residence in central London on April 20, 2026. (AFP)

Britain's government released reams of documents on Monday relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, offering a glimpse into the often acerbic world of Westminster and his messy clearance for the job.

The Mandelson saga, which forced the departure of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's closest aide, has become a focus for criticism of Britain's prime minister, who is fighting for his political survival against a probable leadership challenge.

In a 1,504-page document, the government released messages — ranging from vetting emails to personal WhatsApps — in a data dump it hopes will take some of the focus off Starmer and show that ‌Mandelson was ‌less than frank over his ties to the late convicted sex ‌offender ⁠Jeffrey Epstein.

MANDELSON: 'YOU WILL ⁠NEVER REGRET' THE APPOINTMENT

In one document, the government said it had written to Mandelson on March 31 to request any information held on his personal phone as part of an investigation into his appointment and work - something he had declined to hand over.

Private messages from Mandelson - who was twice sacked from cabinet under Labour's longest-serving prime minister, Tony Blair - show him regularly chatting to Labour insiders, pressing his case and sometimes exchanging criticisms of ⁠the government.

In a handwritten note to then-foreign minister David Lammy on ‌November 18, 2024, Mandelson writes: "I just wanted you ‌to know that if you were minded to appoint me (as ambassador), I would make sure you ‌never regret it."

He also said he went "tonto" over the government's failure to immediately approve ‌a personalized red ministerial box as a gift to US President Donald Trump, using a slang term for going crazy.

He also took a swipe at Starmer, telling senior minister Pat McFadden he believed "Keir is not leading from the front".

In the same exchange, McFadden told Mandelson the government was "asking ‌the wrong questions", saying that every meeting was about "who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others".

The government ⁠hopes the release ⁠of the documents and his messages will put an end to questions surrounding Starmer's judgment in appointing a man whose friendship with Epstein was known. But they are unlikely to silence calls for the prime minister to stand down after Labour lost in local elections last month.

Mandelson is under police investigation for allegedly leaking government documents to the late Epstein. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

An initial tranche of documents was released in March, which showed Starmer was warned of the risks of the appointment, not just over Mandelson's ties to Epstein but also because of the Labour veteran's support for closer ties with China.

Starmer now faces a possible leadership challenge later this year, if his main rival, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, wins a seat in parliament in an election on June 18.

World

‘We Need to Act Now’: Race to Develop Ebola Vaccine Heats Up

Health workers receive boxes of tents at the Evangelical Medical Center, one of the facilities at the forefront of the response to the Ebola outbreak, as agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 31, 2026. (Reuters)
Health workers receive boxes of tents at the Evangelical Medical Center, one of the facilities at the forefront of the response to the Ebola outbreak, as agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 31, 2026. (Reuters)
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‘We Need to Act Now’: Race to Develop Ebola Vaccine Heats Up

Health workers receive boxes of tents at the Evangelical Medical Center, one of the facilities at the forefront of the response to the Ebola outbreak, as agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 31, 2026. (Reuters)
Health workers receive boxes of tents at the Evangelical Medical Center, one of the facilities at the forefront of the response to the Ebola outbreak, as agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 31, 2026. (Reuters)

Several non-profit organizations announced Monday they are ramping up efforts to rapidly develop a vaccine for the rare strain of Ebola driving a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nearly 250 people are suspected to have died and more than 1,100 infected with the strain in the DRC and neighboring Uganda, though the true spread of the virus is feared to be much wider.

While it marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, it is just the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.

The escalating nature of the outbreak has sparked a race to find a vaccine that can be quickly developed, manufactured then tested in humans during clinical trials in the affected region.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that its experts had determined "the most promising candidate vaccine" was a single-dose shot using the rVSV platform.

The only licensed Ebola vaccine, which targets the more common Zaire strain, uses the same platform.

The non-profit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) announced Monday it had reached a deal with the University of Texas Medical Branch to develop the rVSV candidate.

The university's Thomas Geisbert led work on both the Bundibugyo candidate and the licensed Zaire jab.

Geisbert told AFP last month that 2013 research demonstrated his jab provided very strong protection against Bundibugyo in monkeys.

However the vaccine "just sat there" for more than a decade because of a lack of interest, in particular from pharmaceutical firms, the virologist added.

The WHO estimated it would take seven to nine months before the rVSV vaccine is ready to be tested in humans.

- 'Fast-track' -

Also on Monday, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced funding to "fast-track" development of three Bundibugyo vaccine candidates, including $3.2 million towards the rVSV jab.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who visited the epicenter of the outbreak in the DRC on the weekend, said in a statement the funding was "an important step forward".

Another vaccine candidate receiving CEPI funding was developed on the University of Oxford's ChAdOx1 platform, which also underpinned AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine.

This viral vector jab -- which will be manufactured by the huge Serum Institute of India -- could become available for clinical trials within two to three months, the WHO said.

CEPI also said it had committed $50 million to a vaccine candidate being developed by US pharma giant Moderna which uses the mRNA technology pioneered in its Covid vaccine.

In a preprint paper published online last week, researchers at France's INSERM institute called for trials to see if the licensed Zaire vaccine could also help fight Bundibugyo.

- $50 million pledge -

Also on Monday, the Gavi vaccine alliance announced it would make up to $50 million available for Bundibugyo vaccine efforts.

"We need to act now to ensure that, once one or more vaccine candidates are ready, manufacturers are in a position to start producing doses at scale," Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar said in a statement.

IAVI president Mark Feinberg told a press conference on Monday that Gavi's new commitment could fund the production of roughly 500,000 doses.

It also provided a "signal to manufacturers they can make this investment and not carry excessive risk," he added.

Even once doses for a trial are ready, there will be challenges in deploying them in a vast, remote area of the DRC that is already suffering crises including hunger, malaria and conflict.

Gaining the trust of communities where vaccines will be trialed will be crucial, the WHO emphasized.

And once a trial is finally carried out, there is no guarantee it will demonstrate the vaccine works.

"We have reasons to believe that we can generate effective vaccines, but we don't want to downplay at all that we have to treat them as investigational products," CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett said last week.

There are also several efforts to quickly trial several Bundibugyo treatments, including antivirals called remdesivir and obeldesivir, and the monoclonal antibody MBP134.