Biden inches past Trump in new poll ahead of November election: Live updates

The stage has now been set for a 2020 presidential election rematch this November after Donald Trump and Joe Bidensecured their party nominations.

The former president won primaries in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington and the caucus in Hawaii on Tuesday night, taking him over the threshold of 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican party nomination.

Mr Biden also secured the Democratic nomination for president after winning the primaries in Mississippi, Washington and Georgia.

As the nation readies for a 2020 rematch, the two candidates appear to be neck-and-neck among voters in the first major national poll released since they secured the nominations.

In a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, which closed on Wednesday, Mr Biden inched past Mr Trump with a marginal lead of 39 per cent to 38 per cent.

This came after a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, carried out between 8 and 11 March after the State of the Union and just one day before Mr Trump and Mr Biden officially secured the required delegates, found that 40 per cent of voters supported Mr Trump and 38 per cent Mr Biden when presented with the two candidates.

President Joe Biden meets with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office of the White House

During a pool spray with the press during his meeting with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, President Joe Biden was asked about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech about Israel on Thursday morning.

The president said: “I’m not going to elaborate on the speech. He made a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concerns shared not only by him, but by many Americans.”

Asked about a new Hamas ceasefire offer by Danny Kemp of AFP, the president crossed his fingers.

Read more here from The Independent’