Mike Pence bucks Trump to stump for Brian Kemp in Georgia – live

President Joe Biden:

I know families across the country are worried about the availability of infant formula. That’s why yesterday, I brought together manufacturers to discuss how we can increase supply as soon as possible.

Former President Donald Trump has slammed lawmakers for working to pass a $40bn aid package for Ukraine.

Though the bill enjoyed bipartisan support, with only 57 Republicans voting no, Mr Trump still blamed the Democrats.

“The Democrats are sending another $40 billion to Ukraine, yet America’s parents are struggling to even feed their children,” he said in a statement issued through his spokesperson.

“There is a massive formula shortage, but no one is talking about it — it is a national disgrace,” he continued, despite the shortage being the focus of newscasts, press briefings, and Biden administration planning.

Said Mr Trump: “It is unthinkable that in the year 2022 American families are unable to get baby formulas for their children. Families whose children have serious allergies and require ‘elemental’ formula are in even more desperate and dire straits.”

He concluded: “The pain that mothers and fathers are going through who literally cannot get nutrition for their newborns and infants is a mark of eternal shame on the Democrat Party. America First!”

Jen Psaki’s successor as White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was there for her final day at the lecturer.

Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Kathy Barnette is facing heat from influential Republicans — including Fox News host Sean Hannity — now that she’s surged to a front-runner position just days before the state’s primary.

GOP operatives backing celebrity talk show host Dr Mehmet Oz’s candidacy have circled the wagons and begun attacking Ms Barnette to try to hobble her ahead of the primary, NBC News reports.

Graig Graziosi reports:

Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito dodged a question when asked about a leaked draft opinion that he wrote showing the court was about to overturn Roe v Wade,

Mr Alito made his first appearance since the draft opinion leaked at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, The Washington Post reported.

Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC.

Abortion rights groups are planning nationwide demonstrations on 14 May as the US Supreme Court considers overturning constitutional protections for abortion care affirmed by the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v Wade,

“Bans Off Our Bodies” rallies organized by the Women’s March, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, UltraViolet, MoveOn and other abortion rights advocates include marches in New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago and Austin, Texas, with rallies in nearly 400 cities and towns across the US.

Alex Woodward reports.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the scenes from a funeral in Jerusalem for a Palestinian-American journalist who fatally shot during an Israeli raid “deeply disturbing,” as widely shared footage shows Israeli officers beating pallbearers carrying the coffin containing the body of Shireen Abu Akleh.

“We have all seen those images. They’re obviously deeply disturbing. This is a day where we should all be marking, including everyone there, the memory of a remarkable journalist who lost her life,” Ms Psaki said from the White House on 13 May.

Alex Woodwards reports.

Further to Mr Esper’s comments on the possibility that Trump may have pulled the US out of Nato, President Joe Biden spoke today with the Prime Minister of Sweden and President of Finland to underscore his support of the alliance’s open-door policy.

Per the White House:

Readout of President Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Andersson of Sweden and President Niinistö of Finland

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland to discuss the close defense and security cooperation between our countries as well as our respective efforts aimed at strengthening Transatlantic security. President Biden underscored his support for NATO’s Open Door policy and for the right of Finland and Sweden to decide their own future, foreign policy, and security arrangements. The leaders also discussed the close partnership among our countries across a range of global issues, based on our common values ​​and interests. They repeated their shared commitment to continued coordination in support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people affected by the war.

Donald Trump’s secretary of defense Mark Esper says he was “very concerned” about the possibility of the former president pulling the US out of Nato if he had won a second term.

Mr Esper, who has been promoting his book, replete with shocking stories from the Trump presidency, made the remarks in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.