White House backs Austin as Pentagon chief treated for prostate cancer

Hospital stay that Joe Biden did not know about was for prostate cancer surgery and to treat urinary tract infection, doctors say

Joe Biden did not learn that his defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, had prostate cancer until Tuesday, the White House has said, minutes after it was disclosed to the public along with news of an infection that had also been kept under wraps.

Austin prompted confusion followed by uproar when it emerged that he had recently, secretly been hospitalized for surgery and again later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that operation.