Joe Biden, the outgoing US vice-president, has declared that he is planning to run for the presidency in 2020 – maybe.

"I'm going run in 2020. What the hell," he said on Monday evening, with a smile on his face.

When asked if he was joking, Mr Biden, 74, paused for several seconds and then said: “I’m not committing not to run. I’m not committing to anything.

"I learned a long time ago, fate has a strange way of intervening.”