Sam is back from his vacation with his son Sammy, and he’s got Chicago on the brain! He walks us through the deep dish versus tavern pizza debate, that hidden Billy Goat Tavern with its “cheeburger, cheeburger” fame, and the highlights from Wrigley Field to the Willis Tower ledge. Even our resident non-museum guy admits the Art Institute won him over.
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With new-vehicle prices hovering near record highs and monthly payments consuming a growing share of household budgets, many shoppers are looking for ways to make every car-buying dollar go further. And with ample options for where, when and how to buy, it’s not hard to do. The car experts at Edmunds have compiled their five top strategies to help reduce the overall cost of your next vehicle purchase.
One of the simplest ways to stretch your budget is to expand your search beyond brand-new models. Sure, new vehicles offer the latest technology features and are backed by a full warranty, but they also carry disproportionately higher prices.
You’ll find better value in the used market, particularly when shopping for vehicles that are just a few years old. A lightly used vehicle can often offer many of the same features as a new model while avoiding the steepest period of depreciation. According to Edmunds transaction data, the average price of a 3-year-old used vehicle in June 2026 was $32,553, compared to $48,899 for a new vehicle.
Limiting your search to nearby dealerships can unnecessarily reduce your options. Shoppers willing to travel farther from home often find a greater selection of inventory and more competitive pricing. Prices can vary considerably from one county to another based on local demand and supply.
Something similar is true for a loan. Don’t wait until you’re in the dealership finance office to think about a loan. Unless you’re getting a promotional interest rate from the automaker’s finance company, there’s a good chance a credit union may offer you a better rate than the banks the dealership has partnered with.
Instead, get a preapproval from your bank, a credit union or an online lender and compare it against the dealer’s best loan offer. Comparison shopping for loans can often save thousands of dollars over the life of the loan, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Your current vehicle may be worth more than you think, and maximizing its value can significantly reduce the amount you need to finance. Get multiple trade-in offers before visiting a dealership. Online appraisal tools and used vehicle retailers can provide baseline estimates that help establish a vehicle’s market value. Having several offers in hand can strengthen your negotiating position and help prevent unknowingly accepting a low trade-in value.
It’s also worth considering a private-party sale. While selling a vehicle yourself requires more time and effort, it often generates a higher return than a trade-in. Buyers who choose this route should gather maintenance records, clean the vehicle thoroughly, and address minor cosmetic issues that could affect perceived value.
When a salesperson starts asking about a monthly payment you’d feel comfortable with, it’s easy to miss the big picture. But don’t let that distract you. Adjusting to a lower monthly payment might seem appealing, but it often comes at the cost of a longer loan, leading to more interest charges and a higher total paid over the life of the loan.
It’s best to examine the entire financing package, including your down payment, your trade-in, the interest rate, loan term and the total cost. A shorter loan with a slightly higher monthly payment can save thousands of dollars in interest. Comparing financing offers on this basis rather than on the monthly payment alone provides a clearer picture of the true expense.
Inflated vehicle prices during the pandemic, longer loan terms and impatient shoppers have increased the risk of negative equity, a situation in which a borrower owes more on a vehicle than it is worth.
According to Edmunds’ data, 30.9% of trade-ins toward a new vehicle purchase carried negative equity in the first part of 2026. Moving negative equity into a new loan may make a car purchase possible, but it increases the loan amount and makes it harder to build equity in the replacement vehicle.
A better strategy is to wait until you can make a 10% to 15% down payment, according to Edmunds. If you’re getting the itch for a new car and currently owe more than your car is worth, the smarter move is to keep it longer and pay down the loan balance before trading it in. This patient approach can help prevent a cycle of carrying debt from one vehicle to the next.
Stretching your car-buying dollars in 2026 requires looking beyond the sticker price. Before signing any paperwork, ask to see a breakdown of all the fees. If you spot any fees or services you aren’t familiar with, be sure to ask the salesperson. Otherwise, you may overlook something that could prove costly in the long run.
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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Josh Jacquot is a contributor at Edmunds.
NATCHEZ, Miss. – A demolition company has been picked to tear down the downtown Fry building as plans for renovating the adjacent Eola hotel remain alive amid questions whether it’ll actually happen.
Work is set to begin for the Fry in early August with pollution-abatement measures taken first before the asbestos-ridden building is knocked down, said Trey Hess, the consultant hired by Natchez aldermen and Mayor Dan Gibson to manage the project.
The city-owned building is expected to be leveled by mid-October, according to the schedule Hess presented Tuesday to city officials.
The Board of Aldermen selected Environmental Abatement Inc. of Tennessee to tear down the multistory building at the corner of South Pearl and Franklin streets at a cost of about $745,000. Federal and state funds are covering the costs. EAI was the lowest of three demolition bids submitted.
The former office building and land have been contaminated with hazardous asbestos and other pollutants.
As the building’s demolition causes dust and debris, steps will be taken “to protect human health and safety and doing it the right way,” said Hess, who noted he and various environmental protection monitors will oversee the project.
The site is to become a parking lot for the yet-to-be renovated Eola hotel next door. While bedeviled with years of delays and financial hang-ups, “the Eola is going to happen,” Gibson said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Natchez a $1.2 million grant for the Fry’s clean-up and demolition expenses, and the state Department of Environmental Quality provided the city a $500,000 loan for this if needed.
EAI – the demolition company tearing down the Fry – lists various projects its done, including razing The Tennessean newspaper building in Nashville and Sam’s Town casino and hotel in Tunica.
Work is scheduled to begin August 3 to demolish the Frye Building in Natchez, clearing the way for parking to support the planned reopening of the Eola Hotel. The city has approved a $745,000 bid for the demolition, which includes asbestos remediation. The Eola has been closed since 2014, and plans have been underway for several years to refurbish the property and reopen it as a Marriott Flag hotel.
In Richland Parish, Louisiana, increased tax revenues generated by the Meta data center project are resulting in significant teacher bonuses. Before taxes, bonuses are reported at $50,000. Teachers have used the funds for purposes such as paying off vehicle loans and making down payments on homes. The bonuses are part of an overall investment in the region totaling more than $50 billion.
At the Mississippi State Capitol, data centers were the focus of discussion during a meeting of an AI task force. Elected officials, power companies, and public interest groups provided input on the growing role of data centers in the state. While some see benefits, others expressed concerns about their impact on local communities. Several mayors were among those addressing the task force.
Louisiana employment has reached an all-time high, with 2.01 million people working in non-farm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the past year, the state has added 16,700 jobs, with more than half of those in the construction sector. Monroe, Lake Charles, and Baton Rouge are currently the fastest-growing metro areas for job growth, each supported by major construction projects.
The Mississippi River at Natchez–Vidalia is at 36.14 feet and falling.
NEW YORK (AP) — Halfway through 2026, a few music, film and TV streaming trends have become clear, according to Luminate’s 2026 Midyear Report, which was released Wednesday.
Notably, more music is being streamed than ever before, both in the U.S. and globally.
In terms of genre: The combination of R&B/hip-hop remains on top in the U.S., but its dominance is being challenged by genre diversification, as other styles experience growth.
Latin and country music are surging thanks to artists like Bad Bunny and Ella Langley. Certain AI-generated tracks are also growing in popularity.
And in film and TV, Netflix continues its command in the U.S. in streams of original content.
In its midyear report, Luminate, an industry data and analytics company, provides insight into changing behaviors across music listenership as well as TV and film viewing behaviors.
Music streams continued to grow globally and stateside. Global on-demand audio streams reached 2.8 trillion in the first half of 2026 — up from 2.5 trillion during the same period last year, and 2.29 trillion in 2024.
And in the U.S., on-demand audio song streams grew to 732.7 billion. That’s up from 696.6 billion in 2025 and 665.8 billion in 2024.
A combination of R&B/hip-hop is still the most popular streaming genre in the U.S., accounting for nearly 1 in 4 on-demand audio streams. However, its dominance is being challenged. In the first half of 2026, R&B/hip-hop made up 30% of U.S. album-equivalent consumption, based on analysis of the Billboard 200. Compare that to 41% in 2023, and it shows a decline.
“R&B/Hip-Hop remains a massive commercial force, but its historic dominance is leveling off as the streaming landscape diversifies. The genre was an early adopter of streaming, commanding nearly 30% of U.S. audio consumption by 2022, but the post-pandemic era has seen accelerated … growth from genres like Country and Latin,” wrote Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s vice president of music insights and industry relations in a statement to The Associated Press.
He says R&B/hip-hop’s “standalone audio volume has dipped 1.7% so far in 2026 compared to last year. We aren’t seeing a collapse in popularity, but rather a shift toward a more balanced, multi-genre ecosystem where R&B/Hip-Hop’s profound creative influence is also seen in other styles.”
Any concerns about R&B/hip-hop’s continued supremacy may be shortsighted. In the first half of 2026, the genres accounted for nearly 180.3 billion streams in the U.S., followed by rock with 137.2 billion, pop with 87.8 billion, country with 63.8 billion and Latin with 63 billion.
Latin music continues to grow in popularity in the U.S. That’s evidenced in a few different ways: First, Luminate found that nearly 1 in 10 streams in the U.S. was in Spanish for the first half 2026 — 9.4% of total streams.
Secondly, English-language consumption fell to a new low of 87.1% — still the overwhelming majority but evidence of a diverse listening market.
“Casual U.S. listenership of Latin music has hit an all-time high, with 54% — or more than one in two music listeners — now reporting that they engage with the genre,” said Marconette. “Latin music’s cultural footprint is rapidly widening far beyond its traditional core base into the broader American mainstream.”
And globally, Latin music streams reached a new high — accounting for 363.2 billion streams in the first half of 2026, compared to 335.3 billion the previous year.
Albums may be a good place to see the growth of both Latin and country in the U.S. The top albums of the year, so far, are Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” with 2.035 million album equivalent units, Ella Langley’s “Dandelion” with 1.638 million and Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” with 1.543 million. (Both Wallen and Bad Bunny’s albums released early last year.)
Marconette points to Langley as a prime example of country music’s growing audience — she’s at the forefront of an increasing group of “younger, streaming-forward” fans.
And more may very well be on the way. Chill77, Unjaps and Mikeeysmind’s “Papaoutai (Afro Soul)” had 210.7 million streams in all countries except the U.S. in the first half of 2026. In the U.S., it accounted for 17.6 million streams.
That’s followed by The Second Voice’s “Let Me Be,” which earned 75.6 million streams in all countries expect the U.S.; stateside, it earned 10.1 million streams.
The most-streamed AI-generated song in the U.S. is country act Breaking Rust’s “Livin’ on Borrowed Time,” which accounted for 19 million streams. In all countries except the U.S., it earned 13.4 million streams.
Previously, Breaking Rust had a song called “Walk My Walk” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s country digital song sales chart in November 2025. The vocal phrasing, melodic shape and stylistic DNA came from the Grammy-nominated country artist Blanco Brown, an artist who has worked with Britney Spears, Childish Gambino and Rihanna.
Breaking Rust is an example of the kind of generative AI that has begun upending the music industry, often using models trained on real artists’ voices and styles without their knowledge.
“A small number of breakout tracks at the head of the curve can drive temporary conversational and streaming spikes,” says Marconette. “At this stage, generative tools are actively transforming creative and production workflows, but individual AI-generated tracks have yet to make a profound, long-term impact on consumption behavior.”
In the U.S., Netflix accounted for 57% of all original content viewing time, followed by Prime Video (11%), Hulu and Paramount (7% each), Peacock and Apple (5% each), HBO Max (4%) and Disney+ (2%), with 13.6 billion hours streamed in total. Original TV series are most popular, accounting for 11.5 billion hours of that total. Original movies make up the difference, accounting for 2.8 billion hours.
The most streamed original films of 2026 in the U.S., so far, are all courtesy of Netflix: “The Crash” with 39.6 million estimated views, “The Rip” with 39.5 million and “Apex” with 37.3 million.
When it comes to original series in the U.S., there’s a bit more competition. HBO Max’s “The Pitt” leads with 19.4 billion streams, followed by two Netflix titles: “The Lincoln Lawyer” with 16.9 billion and “Bridgerton” with 14 billion.
Overwhelmingly, however, people in the U.S. are streaming library content (older, preexisting and licensed shows and movies) over original programming. Original TV accounted for 11.5 billion hours streamed in the first half of 2026, and original film raked in 2.1 billion. But library TV totaled 42.2 billion hours, and library film had 10.8 billion, according to Luminate.
Luminate estimates there are nearly 19,000 library titles available on major streaming services compared to just 7,000 originals.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a faint, elusive planet orbiting a young star after more than a decade of cosmic hide-and-seek.
In an unusual twist, two groups working independently detected the cold gas giant a few days apart late last year using different telescopes. It’s the dimmest planet ever directly imaged from Earth, scientists reported Wednesday.
A Scottish and German-led team spied the new planet around the star Beta Pictoris using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, then dug through archives to confirm its orbit. The planet had remained hidden in the data all this time, overshadowed by its considerably brighter star and two companion planets.
“It was very much playing hide-and-seek for 11 years,” said the European Southern Observatory’s Markus Bonse, co-leader of the first team.
The California-led team made the discovery with NASA’s Webb Space Telescope. Two observations were all it took with Webb, the biggest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Both teams reported their findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The find was serendipitous. Each team was studying one of the star’s already identified planets when they spotted a less massive one — 100 times fainter — lurking farther out. They deliberately kept their work from one another so as not to bias the results.
The new planet is slightly bigger than Jupiter and takes 91 years to orbit its star, a little longer than it takes Uranus to orbit our sun. Born into a star system that’s barely 20 million years old — a kid compared to the sun’s 4.5 billion-year-old neighborhood — the planet is probably similar to a much younger Jupiter, said the University of California San Diego’s Aidan Gibbs, who led the second team.
“The giant planets have formed, but smaller terrestrial planets could still be forming,” Gibbs said in an email. Beta Pictoris “is probably our best look at a planetary system just after it has formed and is still in the process of stabilizing” from hurtling asteroids and comets.
Beta Pictoris is located in the easel-shaped southern constellation Pictor, or painter, and 63 light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (more than 9 trillion kilometers).
Fewer than 100 of the more than 6,000 confirmed exoplanets — planets around other stars — have been detected through direct imaging, according to NASA. Most were found while passing in front of their star, briefly dimming it.
“We’ve now built a picture of this planet,” the University of Edinburgh’s Ben Sutlieff said in an email, “and we are very excited to see what more can be learned about it.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to keep pulling over vehicles, signaling his opposition Wednesday to plans announced just a day earlier to suspend most traffic stops following another string of fatal shootings.
It’s not clear whether ICE will quickly reverse course and resume most stops, which have been a key tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Ending those stops, Trump wrote, would be “playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
“We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media site.
Hours after Trump made his views known, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued his own statement saying people illegally in the country would be “arrested and deported wherever they are.” While Mullin didn’t directly say whether ICE officers will be allowed to carry out traffic stops, he later said in a statement that he and Trump “are on the same page,” and that they want ICE officers “to have all options available to keep them safe while executing our mission.”
ICE’s enforcement tactics are coming under renewed criticism after three people died during encounters with federal officers within a week. In Florida, a 28-year-old man was killed Tuesday after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.
Before that, two motorists were shot and killed by ICE officers — one in Texas last week and another in Maine on Monday.
After the Maine killing, Trump administration officials told ICE officers to suspend most vehicle stops, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.
Since the immigration crackdown began, federal officers confronting drivers have opened fire several times, saying the drivers’ vehicles had posed a danger. Policing experts have long said that shooting into moving cars presents a danger of its own and should almost always be avoided.
There have been at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched his deportation campaign. At least four of them involved people in vehicles, a trend so troubling that Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine urged Department of Homeland Security leaders “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”
Two shootings in a week, she said Wednesday, “raise very serious questions” and warrant a halt in that approach for the time being.
ICE has been under pressure to beef up arrest and deportation numbers. It says people being sought are increasingly staying in their homes, and it often blames immigration advocates who advise immigrants to stay in homes unless ICE produces a warrant signed by an independent judge.
ICE officers say that means they’re forced to find other ways to make arrests.
More protests are planned after hundreds gathered Tuesday to remember Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the 25-year-old Colombian national who was shot in his car Monday.
Karolina Rojas, his partner and the mother of their young daughter, shared a photo on Instagram of the three hugging and smiling.
“I love you, my darling, my life. I love you. I have no words for this pain. You were my everything. Please watch over me. Help me find the strength to carry on. Stay with me always. Don’t leave me alone. I’m begging you, my love,” she wrote.
Durán Guerrero illegally entered the U.S. on Sept. 1, 2023, through the southern border, DHS said Wednesday. Advocacy groups said that when he was killed, he was authorized to work in the U.S.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the Homeland Security secretary told him on Monday that ICE officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it wasn’t for the person who was shot.
When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone who came from a home under surveillance, the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department said.
In its statement Wednesday, DHS said Guerrero was released into the U.S. after crossing the border.
The department didn’t answer questions about the agent who shot him.
Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield, but the officers involved didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch supporter of Trump’s immigration crackdown, said Wednesday that the state’s top law enforcement unit would investigate the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.
DHS’ account of the July 7 shooting is disputed by three other men who were riding in a van with Salgado Araujo at the time. A public viewing for Salgado Araujo, a homebuilder from Mexico, was set for Thursday in Houston.
More than a week after the shooting, new court records show the FBI is investigating if drugs were found in the van, according to a search warrant application signed by a federal judge Tuesday.
FBI special agent David McNeilly stated in an affidavit that he observed four plastic bags of a white substance appearing to be meth inside the van. DHS has not stated that suspected drugs were the reason why ICE officers engaged in the traffic stop. The FBI referred questions about the search warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ACLU of Texas, which is providing legal representation for Salgado Araujo’s family, said the Trump administration “lacks credibility” to investigate itself.
Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting of Durán Guerrero in Maine a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”
In Wednesday’s social media post, Trump told ICE to be “judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”
Border czar Tom Homan told reporters that the investigation needs to play out and that officers will be held accountable if they are found to have acted inappropriately or illegally.
Maine’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, said ICE should be scrapped as a federal agency if it can’t be fixed.
Mills, who has criticized ICE before, said Wednesday that the agency needs changes “before more families are robbed of a loved one.”
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Whittle reported from Biddeford, Maine. Associated Press reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans, Michael R. Sisak in New York, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Elliot Spagat in Park City, Utah, Anna Wilder in Austin, Texas, and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP) — A lead U.S. negotiator for the release of hundreds of people captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel will have a book out this fall.
The Penguin Random House imprint Crown has scheduled Brett McGurk’s “Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages” for Oct. 6, nearly three years to the day after the deadly Hamas siege that left more than 1,000 people dead and more than 200 taken captive.
McGurk, 53, is a longtime Middle East adviser and diplomat who had already served under three presidents when he was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023 to oversee hostage talks between Israel and Hamas. According to Crown, McGurk will describe his frantic efforts to balance the competing and seemingly intractable demands of the two sides, traveling worldwide in pursuit of an agreement.
“On October 7, Hamas unleashed a devastating war and the largest hostage crisis in modern history,” McGurk said in a statement released Wednesday by Crown. “I wrote ‘Brink’ to bring readers inside the rooms as events unfolded in real time — from the Situation Room with hundreds of missiles in the air, to compounds across the Middle East where diplomacy teetered between breakthrough and collapse.”
According to Crown, McGurk will also disclose details of a near-deal before Oct. 7 that would have normalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and will remember his unlikely alliance with President Donald Trump appointee Steve Witkoff as they handled talks during the transition time between the administrations of Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican. The remaining surviving hostages were freed in October 2025.
“’Brink’ details the bipartisan front they forged when it mattered most, ultimately securing a deal that would save lives,” the publisher’s announcement reads in part.
LONDON (AP) — The British government announced plans Wednesday to introduce a six-hour social media curfew from midnight for 16- and 17-year-olds — though they will be able to override the proposed default setting.
In its latest attempt to reduce the risks of online harm for children, Britain’s Labour government also said that features that can keep users scrolling for longer, such as videos that automatically play one after another, will also be switched off by default for older teenagers.
The planned restrictions come a month after the government unveiled a social media ban for under-16s, which is expected to cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, from next spring.
The measures, which are one of the final acts of the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will have to be legislated upon. It is widely believed that his expected successor Andy Burnham will follow through with the plans.
Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan downplayed talk that teenagers would just turn off optional social media curfews, saying it is a “disservice” to them to suggest they would.
He pointed to a recent pilot program involving more than 300 teenagers and parents across the U.K. that saw social media usage drop dramatically overnight as well as helping improve sleep and concentration.
“In October, for example, some platforms introduced these defaults of this sort – 90%-plus teenagers said to us that they’ve maintained those defaults as well,” he told Sky News. “And so the evidence base is clear, the motivation is very clear and I wouldn’t do the disservice to teenagers of saying they’re all going to switch it off.”
Laura Trott, the education spokesperson for the main opposition Conservative Party, said the proposals make “no sense.”
“Either they think 16- and 17-year-olds should be on social media or they don’t, but curfews they can simply switch off won’t achieve anything,” she said.
The NSPCC, the U.K.’s leading children’s charity, said the proposals will go some way to improving the experiences of young people on social media but won’t be enough on their own.
“Unless they’re followed up with further, stronger measures, they will be a sticking plaster that fails to address the addictive design features which are driving high screentime and undermining children’s wellbeing,” said NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood.
Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said the move was a “positive step” as young people want to try to cut down social media use but find it hard.
“I want to know more about how the policies, such as a curfew, will be delivered and will be watching closely to make sure they are effective,” she said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Joe Biden will publish a memoir, “Promise Me, America,” which he says will touch upon everything from the economy to his decision to drop his bid for reelection.
The memoir is scheduled to come out Nov. 17, publisher Little, Brown and Company told The Associated Press. The timing of the book — two weeks after midterm elections in which Democrats seek to regain control of Congress — could raise concerns within Biden’s party by putting him back into the spotlight.
Democrats remain divided on Biden’s legacy, with many blaming his ill-fated determination to seek a second term for Republican President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Leaders hope to keep the fall campaign focused on Trump and his record, and any leaks or promotional efforts before votes are cast could draw frustration.
“’Promise Me, America’ is about the challenges we faced as a nation. It’s about the decisions I made and why I made them,” Biden said in a video statement accompanying Wednesday’s announcement. “It’s about why I chose to run for reelection and why I chose to step aside.”
Reports of Biden’s book have circulated for more than a year, and the former president himself has referred to it during public remarks, appearing to suggest at one point that it would be released before November’s election.
Biden, who will turn 84 three days after the publication of “Promise Me, America,” has long presented himself as an upholder of standards and traditions; presidential memoirs are one of them. With a handful of exceptions, modern presidents since Harry Truman in the 1950s have published books about their White House years. Like virtually all of his predecessors, Biden did not work on the book alone but was helped by a “small editorial team,” according to the publisher. Little, Brown declined to release financial details for ”Promise Me, America,” although presidents have usually reached deals worth at least seven figures.
The book’s title echoes a 2017 memoir by Biden, “Promise Me, Dad,” which centered on the death of his son, Beau Biden.
Vowing as a candidate to “restore the soul” of his country, Biden was sworn into office in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop his certification as president. Biden’s term was defined by a wide range of conflicts and achievements, from his handling of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to the passage of ambitious infrastructure and economic aid bills. But many readers will likely want to know more about his health while president, including the disastrous debate in June 2024 against Trump that led to his giving up his reelection bid. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran instead, lost decisively to Trump.
Former first lady Jill Biden wrote in her own book that her husband seemed so weak and disoriented during the debate that she feared he was having a stroke. In “View from the East Wing,” published in June, she noted that the White House had initially said he was suffering from a cold.
“The biggest lesson for us, I think, was that if you don’t explain something well enough then the question won’t go away,” she wrote. “There was never a satisfying enough explanation offered for Joe’s debate performance, and a lot of people never got over it.”
Biden was the oldest man to serve as president and his health was a source of speculation for much of his term; Biden and his White House advisers have faced intense criticism from Democrats and Republicans for allegedly concealing the extent of his problems. A notable book release from 2025, Jake Tapper’s and Alex Thompson’s “Original Sin,” was subtitled “President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
That year, Biden announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Biden’s previous books also include “Promises to Keep,” a campaign work published to boost his run for president in 2008, when Barack Obama was the eventual nominee and Biden his running mate. ”Promise Me, America” comes out during a year when nonfiction sales have declined and few political books have caught on, although recent bestsellers have included Vice President JD Vance’s “Communion” and an inside account of Trump’s second term, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, “Regime Change.”
A Little, Brown spokesperson said that Biden plans to tour on behalf of the book and give interviews. In his video announcement, Biden said that many people had been asking him how he was doing.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family. I’m dealing with a cancer diagnosis, been getting treatment, and it’s going really well,” he said. “I want to thank all those who have offered their prayers and support and well-wishes. It’s meant the world to me and to Jill.”