Biden loses Hollywood

US President Joe Biden is facing mounting pressure from his own party to step aside. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Joe Biden ducked out of the Group of Seven last month to attend a fundraiser where the film star George Clooney helped boost the US president’s reelection campaign coffers by more than $30 million. If G-7 leaders had noticed how aged he was, they kept quiet about it. But now everyone, from Hollywood royalty to [former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi]( and Vermont Democrat Peter Welch, is [starting to speak out](. Axios reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is open to a new nominee to take on Donald Trump in November. “The dam has broken,” Clooney wrote in a op-ed for The New York Times on the day Biden was muscling through as host of a NATO summit. The 81-year-old was trying to prove himself ageless to many of the same faces he saw in Italy before his political fortunes changed dramatically with a disastrous performance in a debate with Trump. “It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” Clooney went on. “This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I’ve spoken with in private.” WATCH: Biden’s candidacy faces more challenges. Source: Bloomberg Even ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, a former Democrat adviser who [interviewed him](, was caught on video saying Biden can’t serve another four years. The president has shown his stubborn side. Apparently only the “God almighty” can compel him to quit the race; he’s ordered Democrats to get in line. He’s due to speak today at the close of the NATO summit and the eyes of the world will be unflinchingly upon him. European officials in Washington, meanwhile, are quietly seeking out [meetings with aides]( to Trump — and Hungary’s Viktor Orban is even seeing the Republican candidate in person — in anticipation that he will reclaim the White House.— [Flavia Krause-Jackson]( Pelosi and Biden. Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP Photo Global Must Reads Israel told all Palestinians in Gaza City to leave, as fighting intensified in what used to be the enclave’s most populous area and Hamas warned the attacks could [jeopardize cease-fire talks](. Meanwhile, Italy is working to clinch a [land-border agreement]( between Lebanon and Israel in an effort to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview on the sidelines of the NATO summit. People start to leave Gaza City after the Israeli army ordered residents to evacuate their homes. Photographer: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu/Getty Images President Emmanuel Macron called on parties representing “republican forces” to [build a broad majority]( from the political center in France after snap elections left a divided parliament and [no obvious path]( toward a stable government. Macron said voters “clearly refused” to let the far right form a government, and his appeal also de facto excluded the far-left France Unbowed. NATO leaders slammed China’s military support for Russia amid signs that Beijing is developing an attack drone for the conflict in Ukraine. Calling China a [“decisive enabler” of Russia’s war](, a summit declaration detailed its supply of dual-use materials such as weapons components, equipment and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defense sector. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been barred from the presidential ballot this month and is closely monitored by the authorities, but she’s still managed to [build an energized citizen movement]( that some compare to the early days of Hugo Chavez, the former president and mentor to current leader Nicolas Maduro. At Machado’s rallies, people cheer and cry while others are dialed in remotely by relatives, a form of devotion that’s testament to how desperate Venezuelans are for change. South Korea is looking to use lasers to bring [down North Korea’s drones](, as the military rivals ramp up their unmanned aerial vehicle programs. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it signed a 100 billion won ($73 million) contract with Hanwha Aerospace to produce the weapon under a plan to deploy the new system by the end of the year. China sent a record number of warplanes across a US-drawn boundary in the Taiwan Strait — a move that comes as the [new president]( in Taipei mulls a trip that may include a stop in America. Lawmakers in Thailand linked to a party that was part of the last military government emerged as the biggest force while those backed by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s group trailed in the results of the first Senate contest [since a coup]( in 2014. Russia declared The Moscow Times an “undesirable organization” for its reporting on President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, deepening the Kremlin [crackdown on independent journalism](. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the overcrowding crisis in prisons is his main domestic priority as he pointed to the [“terrible state” of public services]( left by Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives. Washington Dispatch Hungary’s prime minister, whose recent meetings with Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping became a hot topic at this week’s NATO summit in Washington, [plans to visit]( Trump in Florida today, sources say. Orban’s trip to Mar-a-Lago comes just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where the party will nominate the former president for the third time. It will likely stoke concerns that Orban is positioning himself as some sort of intermediary between Putin and Trump, who has said he believes he could convince the Russian leader to [end the war in Ukraine]( if he wins the election. Hungary took over the European Union’s six-month rotating presidency at the beginning of this month. Orban’s EU counterparts have criticized his travels, arguing they could undermine the 27-member bloc’s positions on global issues. One thing to watch today: The consumer price index for June is expected to confirm the Fed’s confidence about [softening inflation](, supporting expectations for a cut in interest rates in September. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day As temperatures in Europe soar above seasonal norms, some oil refineries may have to start making less fuel. Macquarie Group estimates that [heat-related disruption]( at European plants reached about 1 million barrels-a-day last year — almost 10% of what they normally handle. Sweden’s largest refiner says climate change is making fuel production harder. And Finally Before Russia’s invasion, Oleksiy Babenko was a steampunk street performer. Now he runs one of Ukraine’s biggest drone producers, churning out $400 weapons that can take out tanks that cost millions. [Read our Big Take]( to meet him and others who have built up an industry from scratch that is rewriting the economics of war. WATCH: Repelling Russia with duct tape and grenades. Source: Bloomberg More from Bloomberg - Check out our [Bloomberg Investigates]( film series about untold stories and unraveled mysteries - [Bloomberg Opinion]( for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - [Next Africa](, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed - [India Edition](, an insider’s guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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