Joe Biden has given his strongest hint yet that he intends to run for re-election in 2024, but said he is "not prepared to announce it yet".
The president has previously indicated that he intends to stand again despite a low approval rating in opinion polls and voter concerns over his age. At 80, he is the oldest president in American history.
But the timing of an official announcement remains uncertain, forcing his Democratic party and potential campaign staff to put their plans on hold.
Biden inched closer on Monday during a lighthearted interview to Al Roker on the NBC News network's Today show ahead of the White House easter egg roll, an annual tradition hosted by the president and first lady.
Biden said: "I plan on at least three or four more Easter egg rolls. Maybe five. Maybe six, what the hell? I don't know."
Roker asked: "Are you saying that you would be taking part in our upcoming election in 2024? Help a brother out, make some news for me."
The president said: "I plan on running, Al, but we're not prepared to announce it yet."
Biden would be 86 at the end of a second four-year term, but many in Washington regard a re-election bid as all but inevitable. He coveted the White House for all of his career, running failed campaigns in 1988 and 2008, then serving as Barack Obama's vice-president for eight years before finally securing the prize in 2020.
His supporters argue that he had an extraordinary successful first two years in office, passing at least four major pieces of legislation despite narrow majorities in Congress.
He does not yet face a serious challenger on the Democratic side. The self-help author Marianne Williamson has formally announced an intent to run for the party's nomination, and so has anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr, the son of former US attorney general Bobby and nephew of President John F Kennedy.
Another potential argument in Biden's favour is that former president Donald Trump remains the front runner for the Republican nomination. Having beaten him by 7 million votes in 2020, Biden can make the case he is best placed to do it again.
In December, Ron Klain, the then White House chief of staff, said he expects Biden to announce a 2024 bid following the Christmas break after talking to his family. In February, during a trip to Kenya, first lady Jill Biden told the Associated Press that there's "pretty much" nothing left to do but figure out the time and place for the announcement.
Biden's aides have said a formal announcement could come this month, after the first fundraising quarter ends. That is around the time that Barack Obama officially launched his 2012 re-election campaign.
The White House easter egg roll involves people rolling brightly dyed hard-boiled eggs on the White House lawn with spoons. Biden told families gathered on the south lawn: "Anything's possible in America if we remember who we are."
On the Republican side, Trump's former secretary of state Nikki Haley and ex-governor Asa Hutchinson have also declared themselves as candidates for 2024. Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, is also widely expected to join that field at some point.
