Obama is to make a statement from the East Room of the White House at 1:05 p.m. EST. His opening move in what is expected to be a tense negotiation to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" was telegraphed yesterday by a top adviser, David Plouffe, who claimed a mandate from Tuesday's election victory to raise taxes on the wealthy.

That set up a clash with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, whose leader, Speaker John Boehner, reiterated on Thursday his opposition to any increase in tax rates.