Barack Obama's presidency has been consistently dogged by questions from the US right about whether or not he is an American citizen. The president was born in Hawaii, but questions about his birth reached a new pitch when businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump raised them again as he mulled over running for president.



Today the White House has released the "long-form" version of Obama's birth certificate and the president is to make a live statement shortly. The birth certificate says Obama was born in the state of Hawaii, which makes him eligible to hold the office of president. Obama had earlier released a standard short form, but requested copies of his original birth certificate from Hawaii officials this week.

Here is the copy of the long-form birth certificate the White House released today.

I've added the full image of the birth certificate to the top of this blogpost. Refresh the page to see it.

This CNN report explains a bit about why this issue has become so important that Obama feels he has had to take this step.

A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll showed that nearly 75% of Americans believe Obama was definitely or probably born in the United States. More than four in 10 Republicans, however, believe he probably or definitely was not born in America. The US constitution says only "natural born" citizens can become president – a vague clause that some members of the birther movement contend disqualifies Obama because, they insist, he was born outside the United States. Sceptics contend, among other things, that Obama was born in his father's home country of Kenya.

I'm going to hand over now to my colleague Richard Adams in Washington for coverage of the statement.

Donald Trump is currently giving a press conference being shown live on Fox News – and as usual Trump is full of himself on the subject of Obama's birth certificate.

Since he launched his pseudo-non-campaign for the Republican nomination, Trump has been banging on about Obama's birth. Now he's being smug.

"Today I'm very proud of myself because I've accomplished something that nobody else was able to accomplish," says Trump, never happier than when a television camera is upon him.

But he is still trying to make hay out of the subject: "I want to look at it and I hope it's true," says Trump. "I am really honoured to have played such a big role... I'm really proud, I'm really honoured."

Trump is still going, and reporters are pressing him on whether he is actually a serious candidate. Trump laughs it off.

Conspiracy theory: the White House released the birth certificate today in order to give Trump a boost? "He's starting to make Sarah Palin sound intelligent," observes one of my colleagues.

Obama is now speaking at the White House.

"This isssue has been going on for two and a half years now, I think it started during the campaign," says Obama, looking relaxed:

And I have to say that over the last two and a half years I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going.

"Normally I would not comment on something like this, because obviously there's a lot of stuff swirling in the press on at any given day and I've got other things to do," says Obama.

But he explains that, two weeks ago during the budget debate with Republicans in Congress, he found that the biggest news story was about his birth certificate:

But two weeks ago, when the Republican House had put forward a budget that will have huge consequences potentially to the country, and when I gave a speech about my budget and how I felt that we needed to invest in education and infrastructure and making sure that we had a strong safety net for our seniors even as we were closing the deficit, during that entire week the dominant news story wasn't about these huge, monumental choices that we're going to have to make as a nation. It was about my birth certificate.

(That was Trump's fault: that was when he started raising the subject.)

"We're not going to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers," says Obama – an oblique reference to Trump, surely?

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do," says Obama, before closing his statement, without taking questions from the White House press corps.

Fox News is all over the story, as are all the US cable networks. "I think we just heard the president call Donald Trump a carnival barker," says the Fox News White House correspondent.

"There will be sections of the population that will still not believe this," the correspondent notes, rather pessimistically.

Will Obama's announcement today strangle birtherism? "This isn't about facts," says blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic:

I would be shocked if this kills off the birthers. It's worth remembering that birtherism, itself, is just a mutation of the, still current theory, that Obama is a Muslim. It's likely that the "delay" in releasing the long-form certificate will be taken as evidence of yet another, or perhaps even the same, conspiracy.

More nonsense from Donald Trump earlier:

Why he didn't do it when the Clintons asked for it, I don't know.

That's just a flat untruth. The Clintons never asked for Obama's birth certificate to be published – although some suggest the origins of the birther argument came from the Clinton campaign during the 2008 primaries. Whether or not that is true, what is true is that the birthers set sail under their own wind long ago.

Fox News's Chris Wallace says Trump is right to claim credit for today's release.

(Weirdly, Wallace also claims that Obama's speech was a copy of the final big speech by Michael Douglas's character in the Aaron Sorkin movie The American President.)

More details on the release of the birth certificate from the White House blog:

The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country. Therefore, the President directed his counsel to review the legal authority for seeking access to the long form certificate and to request on that basis that the Hawaii State Department of Health make an exception to release a copy of his long form birth certificate. They granted that exception in part because of the tremendous volume of requests they had been getting.

So why did Obama decide to release his full birth certificate today?

Seems that WH released the long-form birth certificate to elevate Trump and stick the GOP with the "birther" label. Jordan Fabian

Jordanfabian



Here's one theory, tweeted by Jordan Fabian, a reporter for The Hill newspaper in Washington DC.

Later today, Hillary Clinton will release a photo showing her not killing Vince Foster. William K. Wolfrum

Wolfrum



And the above tweet is for the US politics geeks out there with long memories.

With a great sense of timing, earlier this morning I'd blogged on the very subject of Trump, Obama and birtherism, which noted this from a new USA Today/Gallup opinion poll:

[I]n the USA Today poll, only 38% of Americans say Obama definitely was born in the USA, and 18% say he probably was. Fifteen percent say he probably was born in another country, and 9% say he definitely was born elsewhere.

And when the same sample was asked if Donald Trump was born in the US, here's the result:

For what it's worth, not everyone is convinced Trump was born in the USA either: 43% say he definitely was born here, and 20% say he probably was; 7% say he definitely or probably was born in another country. Nearly three in 10 say they don't know enough to say.

How has the epicentre of birtherism – the swivel-eyed website WorldNetDaily – coping with today's events? Here's its lead headline:

White House releases Obama 'birth certificate'

The "quote marks" say it all.

As predicted, the Birther Taliban are not yet ready to let go of it – and are busy moving the goalposts, according to this reporting by Politico:

Phil Berg, who filed one of the original birther lawsuits, now believes that Obama was adopted by his Indonesian father and lost his US citizenship: "I think the issue is that he's not any more natural born. I don't care if he releases his birth certificate or whatever," said Berg. "Let's see his records coming back through immigration" Orly Taitz, once called 'Queen of the birthers' and who was responsible for a number of lawsuits, is verifying the document's authenticity and now believes that the President is using a false social security number.

None of which is as sexy as "born in Kenya". But top marks for trying.

Here's a summary of today's events:

• The White House has attempted to end the wild conspiracy theories around Barack Obama's place of birth by releasing the full version of his birth certificate. The move is seen as an attempt to neutralise a debate within Republican circles that he was not born in the United States

• Obama followed up the release with a televised statement at the White House, in which he dismissed the debate as a side show. "We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do," he said

• Obama said he had been "bemused and puzzled" by how long the rumours have persisted, despite many investigations and the earlier release of the shorter version of his birth certificate. "And yet this thing just keeps on going."

• Donald Trump, the New York property developer who has been raising the issue in an apparent attempt to boost his political standing among Republicans, said he was "proud" of the result. "Today I'm very proud of myself because I've accomplished something that nobody else was able to accomplish," he said.

The real winner from today's events? Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve.

Bernanke is holding his first live press conference following a Federal Open Markets Committee interest rate-setting decision – the US equivalent of the Bank of England's MPC – later this afternoon. On any normal day this would have been the big news story. But right now Ben could break down sobbing "We're doomed!" while setting fire to $100 bills, and it might make a brief item on the 10 o'clock news.

Like most people, you will have been thinking: "I wonder how Diane Abbot MP, the British Labour party's shadow health minister, will react to Obama's birth certificate release?" Wait no longer:

A statement from Diane Abbott MP, Labour's Shadow Health Minister, in response to the White House's release of President Obama's Long-Form Birth Certificate:

It is sad that the so-called 'birther' movement, which maintains the President was not born in Hawaii, has been allowed to reach this stage. It is quite absurd. It is shocking that figures suggest that around half of Republicans either think Barack Obama was not born in the US or are not sure. The focus on President Obama's nationality, at a time of great consequence for America, has been a way of delegitimizing Obama and his work. Some of the discourse around this debate has been troubling and uncomfortable. I think this will be a real blow for Trump. I only hope that the UK can learn from this sorry episode, and can help us to move away from the focus on personality above policy in our politics.

What the UK can learn from this sorry episode isn't entirely obvious, since the British constitution doesn't have a clause stating that only a "natural born citizen" can be president, nor indeed does it have a constitution or a president. But other than that, yes.

Anyway, does the Queen even have a birth certificate? Or Prince William, for that matter.

My colleagues at Cif America have a poll up: Should Donald Trump apologise for backing the birthers?

Cast your vote now. But even if he should, it'll be a cold day in Hell before Donald apologises for anything.

A mere birth certificate was never going to be enough for the truly swivel-eyed. From WorldNetDaily:

Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND, the only news agency that has waged a relentless investigative campaign on questions swirling around the Obama's eligibility for nearly three years, was elated at the turn of events. "We're gratified that our work has begun to pay off," he said. "The certificate of live birth is an absolutely vital foundation for determining constitutional eligibility of any president. We look forward to reviewing it like so many other Americans do at this late date. But it is important to remember there are still dozens of other questions concerning this question of eligibility that need to be resolved to assure what has become a very skeptical public concerning Barack Obama's parentage, his adoption, his citizenship status throughout his life and why he continues to cultivate a culture of secrecy around his life."

A video clip from PBS of Obama's statement this morning, and the White House has now released the text of Obama's remarks:

This issue has been going on for two, two and a half years now. I think it started during the campaign. And I have to say that over the last two and a half years I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going. We've had every official in Hawaii, Democrat and Republican, every news outlet that has investigated this, confirm that, yes, in fact, I was born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, in Kapiolani Hospital. We've posted the certification that is given by the state of Hawaii on the Internet for everybody to see. People have provided affidavits that they, in fact, have seen this birth certificate. And yet this thing just keeps on going. Now, normally I would not comment on something like this, because obviously there's a lot of stuff swirling in the press on at any given day and I've got other things to do. But two weeks ago, when the Republican House had put forward a budget that will have huge consequences potentially to the country, and when I gave a speech about my budget and how I felt that we needed to invest in education and infrastructure and making sure that we had a strong safety net for our seniors even as we were closing the deficit, during that entire week the dominant news story wasn't about these huge, monumental choices that we're going to have to make as a nation. It was about my birth certificate. And that was true on most of the news outlets that were represented here. And so I just want to make a larger point here. We've got some enormous challenges out there. There are a lot of folks out there who are still looking for work. Everybody is still suffering under high gas prices. We're going to have to make a series of very difficult decisions about how we invest in our future but also get a hold of our deficit and our debt – how do we do that in a balanced way. And this is going to generate huge and serious debates, important debates. And there are going to be some fierce disagreements – and that's good. That's how democracy is supposed to work. And I am confident that the American people and America's political leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and solve these problems. We always have. But we're not going to be able to do it if we are distracted. We're not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other. We're not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers. We live in a serious time right now and we have the potential to deal with the issues that we confront in a way that will make our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids proud. And I have every confidence that America in the 21st century is going to be able to come out on top just like we always have. But we're going to have to get serious to do it. I know that there's going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest. But I'm speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do. We've got big problems to solve. And I'm confident we can solve them, but we're going to have to focus on them – not on this.

Elsewhere on the Guardian, we have this news item on the release of Obama's birth certificate:

The White House has released Barack Obama's full birth certificate in an effort to finally put to rest what Obama called "carnival barkers" making the matter a distraction from the serious issues facing the US.

Over on Cif America, Michael Tomasky has this to say on the subject:

But today, the question is: should Obama have acknowledged the madness? I think so, and probably earlier. The so-called long-form birth certificate, just a page, could not have taken long to dredge up from its Hawaiian storage coffin. There existed any number of occasions in 2009 and 2010 on which to deal with this. Why not then? I suspect there's no good reason.

Today was a bad day for Jerone Corsi, the conspiracy authorist who has a book just about to come out. Its title? Where's The Birth Certificate?

Corsi is best known as the author of Swift Boat, the book that "revealed" John Kerry and Jane Fonda were secretly fighting for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war, or similar.

If you can stomach it, here's an old joke from the Onion:

In the continuing controversy surrounding the president's US citizenship, a new fringe group informally known as "Afterbirthers" demanded Monday the authentication of Barack Obama's placenta from his time inside his mother's womb.

My colleague Paul Harris has an excellent piece of analysis appearing on Cif America, well worth reading:

The fact is that the Obama administration has played the recent spasm of birther attention remarkably well. They have let Trump rise up on a balloon of inflated birther nonsense – getting near the top of Republican polls for the 2012 nomination – and then promptly popped it underneath him. Look at the timing. This was meant to be a moment all about Trump appearing in New Hampshire, the vital first state to hold a primary in the nomination process. It was a moment where Trump the outsider upstart was meant to begin to look a little serious.

The New York Times on the birth certificate revelation:

White House officials had for years sought to ignore questions about Mr Obama's birth, pointing to the shorter form as sufficient to end the questions. In July 2009, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary at the time, dismissed the "made-up fictional nonsense of whether or not the president was born in this country." But the so-called birther controversy continued as polls showed that large numbers of people said they were not confident that Mr Obama was, in fact, born in the country. Many of the doubters suggested that Mr Obama could not produce the "long-form" birth certificate because they assumed it did not exist. His decision to produce the document is an effort to disprove those accusations.

Time to wrap up this live blog. Personally, I think by releasing the birth certificate Obama has put the whole issue to bed. Without the long-form birth certificate, the birthers had a simple catchphrase: where's the birth certificate? That fox has now been shot, and all they are left with convoluted pseudo-arguments without a shred of evidence to back them up. Plus, the rest of the world have the birth certificate to wave in their faces.

After this point, anyone who denies that Barack Obama was born in the United States is an idiot or a liar. Of course it won't stop some people, just as the 9/11 Truthers and the unhinged Trig Palin deniers persist that there is some sort of grand conspiracy and cover-up.

But then there's just no pleasing some people.