In short:
Joe Biden will not drop out of the US presidential race after a shaky debate performance with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Mr Biden was backed in his decision by Democratic governors after a meeting on Wednesday evening, local time.
What's next?
Vice-President Kamala Harris is the likely successor if the president does step aside, multiple sources told Reuters, but so far staff insist he is going nowhere.
Joe Biden has vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with campaign staff.
He sought to reassure top Democrats on Capitol Hill that he is fit for re-election, despite his disastrous debate performance last week.
The president dialled into a call with worried members of his campaign team and told them he wasn't going anywhere, according to two sources familiar with the call.
"Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one's pushing me out," Mr Biden reportedly said on the call.
"I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end and we're going to win."
The president met with 24 Democratic governors and the mayor of Washington, DC, on Wednesday evening, local time, to reassure them he is up to the job.
The Democratic governors of New York, Minnesota and Maryland expressed confidence in him and said they had an honest discussion after Mr Biden's debate performance.
"We were honest about the feedback that we were getting," Maryland Governor Wes Moore told reporters after the meeting at the White House.
"The president is our nominee," he said. "The president is our party leader." He added that, in the meeting, Mr Biden "was very clear that he's in this to win."
Loading...New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she felt confident after the meeting.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, said Mr Biden's debate performance against Republican former president Donald Trump was bad but added that he felt Mr Biden was fit for office.
Nearly a dozen of the state leaders attended the meeting in person, but only three spoke with reporters afterwards.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who participated in person, posted his reaction on social platform X: "I heard three words from the President tonight — he's all in. And so am I."
Mr Biden's campaign said the president reiterated his determination "to defeat the existential threat of Donald Trump at the ballot box in November" and discussed the importance of electing Democrats up and down the ballot.
"All participants reiterated their shared commitment to do everything possible to make sure President Biden and Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump in November," it said.
Asked on Wednesday if Mr Biden was considering stepping down, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: "Absolutely not."
Despite such reassuring sentiments, a major Democratic donor, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, also called on the president to exit the race.
He said: "Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous." The statement was first reported by The New York Times.
Mr Biden spoke to Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, and senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, on Wednesday, a White House official said.
He also spoke with House Democrat Jim Clyburn on Wednesday, whose office said afterwards they had a long, private conversation.
Mr Clyburn — a kingmaker of sorts within the Democratic Party and who was instrumental in Mr Biden's 2020 win — told CNN on Wednesday that the party should hold a "mini-primary" if Mr Biden steps aside, the first senior party member to talk publicly about how, exactly, replacing Mr Biden as a candidate would work.
Mr Clyburn, who said on Tuesday that he would back Ms Harris as the presidential candidate if Mr Biden were to depart, added: "If she were to be the nominee, we need to have a running mate and a strong running mate.
"And so all of this would give us an opportunity, not just to measure up who would be good to be at the top of the ticket, but also who would be best in second place."
Mr Biden's halting, shaky debate performance against Trump in Atlanta last week sparked calls for him to step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate for the November 5 election.
Trump repeated a well-worn slate of falsehoods, including that he won the 2020 election.
Democrats raised fresh concerns about Mr Biden on Tuesday, with one house member calling for him to drop out and former speaker Nancy Pelosi, a long-time ally, saying it was legitimate to ask whether Mr Biden's performance in Atlanta was an "episode" or a condition.
Could a governor replace Biden?
The president has said he was tired after two foreign trips and the White House has said he had a cold. His campaign has held damage control calls with donors, and Mr Biden has shown no signs so far of abandoning his quest for a second term.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients held a call with demoralised White House staff on Wednesday as well, acknowledging that it had been a challenging few days while stressing that the Biden team had a record to be proud of and more work to do.
A handful of governors are potential rivals to Mr Biden if pressure for him to step aside were to increase, but many of them also speak on his behalf on the campaign trail.
Ms Harris is the likely successor if Mr Biden does step aside, multiple sources told Reuters.
However, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear have all been mentioned as possible replacements to Mr Biden if he decides to bow out as the 2024 candidate.
Reuters/AP