Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has appointed Garret Graves to negotiate with the White House on the debt ceiling. Graves left the negotiations on Friday, calling them futile. – There was no point in staying put, they were useless, according to Graves.

Biden has travelled to the G7 meeting in Japan and is playing hardball with the Republicans. He wants to see who blinks first.

Another of the Republican negotiators, Patrick McHenry from North Carolina, says there is a great distance between the parties.

We are in a difficult place, says McHenry.

Democrats in the House of Representatives are gathering signatures to force a vote despite the Republican majority.

Liberal media also portrays the Republicans as the bad guys. They are at pains to realise that the US is sinking into debt which will deprive them of their economic room for action and thus also their security policy.