Joe Biden withdraws from US presidential race

US President Joe Biden has ended his reelection campaign after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race in uncharted territory.

Biden, in a post on X on Sunday, said he will remain in his role as president and commander-in-chief until his term ends in January 2025 and will address the nation this week.

"It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden wrote.

In a separate X post, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic presidential nominee.

"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made," he said.

"Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this," he added.

Harris will be the first Black woman to run at the top of the ticket in the country's history.

Biden's announcement follows a wave of public and private pressure from Democratic lawmakers and party officials to quit the race after his shockingly poor performance in a televised debate last month against Republican rival Trump.

In response, Trump told CNN on Sunday that he thinks Harris will be easier to defeat in November's election than Biden.

A CNN reporter said on X that Trump made the comments to the network shortly after Biden announced his decision.