Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at a rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University on August 9, 2024, in Bozeman, Montana. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday as the campaign works to recenter its campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The election’s coming up, and the people want to hear about the economy,” Trump said during an interview with Elon Musk on X Monday, directly blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the current state of the economy.
The economy has been one of the Trump campaign’s central election issues this cycle — the former president often spending a considerable amount of time discussing inflation, gas prices and the job market.
“I just ask this: Are you better off now, or were you better off when I was president?” Trump said Monday night as he was wrapping up his conversation with Musk.
Last week, Trump blamed the Biden-Harris administration for the recent stock market crash and called it a “Kamala crash” — making unfounded claims that the crash happened because people have “no confidence” in Harris, while experts pointed to concerns about the health of the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve’s long wait to cut interest rates as among key reasons for the crash.
Trump has also claimed that if Harris wins in November, there could be a “Great Depression” on par with that of 1929.
On the campaign trail, Trump, even as he rails against the economy under the Biden administration, has announced sparse details on specific economic policy proposals for his possible second administration, often offering his signature “Trump tax cuts,” “Trump tariffs” and “drill, baby, drill” — a boost for the oil and gas industry — as solutions to most economic problems.
In recent weeks, however, he has touted two new policies: a proposal to eliminate taxes on tip wages and Social Security for seniors.
While campaigning in Las Vegas in June, Trump made a direct appeal to Nevada’s hospitality industry workers by announcing that the tax cuts would be the “first thing in office” he would do.
Harris also recently advocated for the same policy, drawing criticisms from Trump and his allies who called her “Copy Cat Kamala.”
“Copy Cat Kamala Harris proved she has no plan or ideas of her own to fix the economic pain and suffering that she personally inflicted on the American people for the last four years,” the campaign said in a statement.
Harris is also expected to make her first major policy rollout this week since jumping into the race with an economic policy speech.
Harris’ speech will detail her plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” a campaign official said.
The two dueling policy speeches come as the economy remains a central focus in the race to the White House for both campaigns.
Trump’s speech on Wednesday may also offer a more focused approach to contrast his vision with Harris as supporters have cautioned Trump away from personal attacks against Harris.
Both candidates have room to improve their reliability on economic issues, according to a recent CNBC poll from August, in which 40% of poll respondents said they would be better off financially if Trump wins, 21% said if Harris wins, and 35% responded saying their financial situation would not really change.
Several Trump supporters suggest the recent rise in prices at the grocery store or gas station as a reason they’re behind the former president, and younger voters are also concerned about home buying despite the president’s lack of control of mortgage rates.
“At the end of the day, we have got a lot of work to do to turn this country around. We need to secure the borders. We need to fix inflation. We need to make house prices affordable again,” Dante Bernard, a Trump supporter attending Trump’s Atlanta rally this month, told ABC News. “Less insulting and talking about people’s race or identity and more policies 100%. Let’s focus on politics. Let’s stop the name-calling.”
“It’s all about freedom, small government, less taxes. $2 gas – does everyone remember when it was $2 gas? Remember $2 Trump?” said Dan Bawler, from Carson City, Nevada, praising Trump administration policies.
Democratic voters who spoke with ABC News also say they’re concerned about the economy.
“The economy for my children, my grandchildren — I want to see them flourish and do well in a healthy economy,” said James Allen, a Democratic voter from Roanoke, Virginia.
Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 06, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, attempted to enlist support from the U.S. Ambassador to Italy in 2016 to arrange a business meeting on behalf of Burisma for a prospective energy deal, according to his attorney.
The New York Times first reported the overture, which occurred during Joe Biden’s time as vice president.
In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday night, Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, characterized Hunter Biden’s letter to John Phillips, the U.S. ambassador in Rome at the time, seeking a “simple introduction” as a “normal and proper practice.”
“No meeting occurred, no project materialized, no request for anything in the U.S. was ever sought, and only an introduction in Italy was requested,” Lowell said.
The New York Times reported that it had secured records related to Hunter Biden’s request after a lengthy legal fight with the State Department. The newspaper said in Tuesday’s news article that it initially filed the request for these records in June 2021 and later sued when the department failed to turn them over.
The Times also reported that a State Department official said the timing of the release of these particular documents — just weeks after Joe Biden ended his presidential campaign — was a coincidence.
The actual text of Hunter Biden’s 2016 letter to Ambassador John Phillips was not included in the documents obtained by the Times. But according to Lowell, Hunter Biden reached out to the embassy to see “if they could make a simple introduction of Burisma’s Geothermal company to the President of Tuscany where such projects were being considered.”
The response Hunter Biden received from an embassy aide suggested unease with official U.S. cooperation.
“I want to be careful about promising too much,” a Commerce Department official based in Rome replied to Hunter Biden, according to the Times. “This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, [U.S. government] should not be actively advocating with the government of Italy without the company going through the [Commerce Department] Advocacy Center.”
Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma for nearly five years and earned more than $2 million from the energy firm during that time, according to court records filed as part of his tax case in California.
This latest revelation builds on recent allegations that Hunter Biden attempted to leverage his proximity to power for business gains.
Last week, prosecutors contended in court filings that the younger Biden accepted payments from a Romanian businessman who wanted him to “influence U.S. government agencies” while his father was vice president.
Lawyers for Hunter Biden criticized the allegations related to the Romanian businessman in court filings.
“The Special Counsel’s unnecessary change of tactic merely echoes the baseless and false allegations of foreign wrongdoing which have been touted by House Republicans to use Mr. Biden’s proper business activities in Romania and elsewhere to attack him and his father,” attorneys for Hunter Biden wrote.
In related news, Hunter Biden first addressed his role at Burisma in an interview with ABC News in Oct. 2019. He acknowledged at the time that he would “probably not” have been offered the role at Burisma if his last name hadn’t been Biden, but insisted he “did nothing wrong at all” by accepting overseas work while his father was vice president.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, 2024 in St Cloud, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Washington and is preparing to roll out her economic plan on the road in North Carolina on Friday, which will mark her first major policy rollout since becoming the Democratic nominee. As Donald Trump looks for a campaign reset, he spoke with Elon Musk live on Tuesday and will deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump to deliver remarks on economy in North Carolina
Former President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday as the campaign works to recenter its campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The election’s coming up, and the people want to hear about the economy,” Trump said during an interview with Elon Musk on X Monday, directly blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the current state of the economy.
The economy has been one of the Trump campaign’s central election issues this cycle — the former president often spending a considerable amount of time discussing inflation, gas prices and the job market.
“I just ask this: Are you better off now, or were you better off when I was president?” Trump said Monday night as he was wrapping up his conversation with Musk.
Omar decries ‘shameful’ opponents in primary race
Following her Tuesday night primary victory, Rep. Ilhan Omar told supporters: “We run the politics of joy, because we know it is joyful to fight for your neighbors.”
“We know it is joyful to want to live in a peaceful and equitable world,” she added, per ABC News’ St. Paul affiliate KSTP-TV.
Omar also had harsh words for her main primary opponent Don Samuels, though did not mention him by name.
“I hope that they reflect in the shameful way they decided to divide our district and the incredible people we are grateful to represent,” she said of her challengers.
Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar wins primary
Rep. Ilhan Omar has won her Congressional primary in Minnesota, multiple media outlets projected Tuesday night.
Omar’s win follows defeats by two of her fellow squad members in their primaries — Cori Bush from Missouri, and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
Omar had been expected to win in her district despite a challenge from former Minneapolis city council member Don Samuels.
Bush lost her primary earlier this month to St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell. He was backed by more than $8 million from the pro-Israel United Democracy Project.
Bowman lost to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June. Per AdImpact, the race was the most expensive House primary on record, with most of the funding coming from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) United Democracy Project PAC in support of Latimer. Latimer was recruited to run by AIPAC.
Walz says he’s ‘damn proud’ of military record, thanks Vance for his service
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in his first solo campaign appearance, defended his military record and thanked his vice presidential opponent, Sen. JD Vance, for his service.
“I am damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz said to applause at the AFSCME convention in California. “And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. Anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
Vance has repeatedly criticized how Walz has talked about his military record, which included 24 years in the Army National Guard before he retired to run for Congress in 2005. Vance served as a combat correspondent for four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Read more about Vance’s comments and Walz’s background here.
Biden says he would attend Trump’s inauguration if he were elected
President Joe Biden on Tuesday, as he was departing the White House, said he would go to Trump’s inauguration in January if he were to win this year’s election.
“I have good manners, not like him,” Biden told reporters after being asked if he’d attend. Trump did not attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Biden also defended his calling Trump “a genuine danger to American security,” a comment he made during his CBS News interview over the weekend. Asked whether that contradicted his calls to cool heated political rhetoric, Biden shot back: “That’s just a statement. That’s a factual statement.”
-Fritz Farrow
Judge’s ruling means independent Cornel West can appear on North Carolina ballot
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West will be allowed on the general election ballot in North Carolina following a judge’s ruling that reversed a decision that would have kept him off the ballot in the battleground state.
In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify Justice for All North Carolina as a political party in the state. That party, started by West’s campaign, is nominating him as its candidate in North Carolina and some other states. The board had previously voted to deny certifying the party over concerns about how signatures were gathered for its petition to become a certified party.
Justice for All North Carolina called the decision a “monumental day for our party” but West’s campaign still faces headwinds. The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that West’s campaign received “illegal In-Kind Contributions” from firms it used to collect signatures for ballot access petitions in Arizona and North Carolina — allegations West has pushed back on.
“We’ve always said we’re going to ensure the third party candidates are playing by the rules, and it’s clear his campaign isn’t playing by the rules,” DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni told ABC News after the complaint was filed.
-Oren Oppenheim
Walz to make his 1st solo campaign appearance
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday will embark on his first solo Harris-Walz campaign event as Harris’ running mate with a stop in Los Angeles for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) international convention.
Walz is set to speak at 3:35 p.m. ET.
Walz emerged as a popular candidate among labor unions during Harris’ search for a vice president pick, sources said. AFSCME represents 1.4 million public service members, and the union’s president, Lee Saunders, previously released a statement endorsing Harris for president.
Harris to roll out economic plan on Friday
Harris will outline her economic policy in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, her campaign announced, making it her first major policy rollout since jumping into the race.
Harris’ speech will detail her plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” a campaign official said.
The vice president has heavily focused her stump speech on the economy while on the campaign trail in recent weeks, saying over the weekend she would look to eliminate taxes on tips earned by service workers — a proposal Trump announced earlier this summer.
Harris’ college sorority creates PAC
The historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., of which Vice President Kamala Harris counts herself a member, started its own political PAC last week, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission posted Monday.
The committee is named Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, the filing shows.
Harris has been an AKA since her days as a student at the historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. Harris on Monday visited the campus, her office confirmed to ABC News, but it’s not clear why she was there.
In July, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris spoke at the AKA’s annual Boulé in Dallas, Texas. Since then, as a candidate, she’s also addressed similar national gatherings of two other historically Black sororities, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
Trump says he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania after assassination attempt
After discussing the assassination attempt made against him in Pennsylvania in July, former President Donald Trump said he’s planning a trip back to Butler in October.
“We’re going back to Butler; we’re gonna go back in October,” Trump said, adding, “Butler is a big, great area.”
Addressing what he’ll say when he returns, Trump told Musk, “I think I’ll probably start by saying I was so horribly interrupted.”
Trump discusses assassination attempt with Musk, says he turned head at ‘perfect angle’
During his conversation with Musk, former President Donald Trump addressed the assassination attempt made against him during a campaign rally in July.
“It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle,” Trump said of the bullet, which grazed his right ear while his head was turned.
During the discussion, Trump mentioned the man who was killed in the shooting, saying, it was a “very sad situation.”
“We lost somebody that was firefighter, a great Trumper,” Trump said of Corey Comperatore, adding, “He was a just a fantastic family [man] and a fantastic man.”
Trump and Musk’s conversation on X appears to be delayed
The conversation between former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appears to be delayed, with many X users reporting they cannot access the Spaces conversation.
“This Space is not available,” appeared for some users on X.
The conversation was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Judge orders RFK Jr. off New York ballot
A New York judge ruled Monday that the thousands of signatures gathered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign in the state were “invalidated” after a Democrat-aligned group argued he misled voters by listing as his home an address he rarely visits.
The judge, Christina Ryba, ordered the New York Board of Elections to not include Kennedy’s name on the ballot this fall.
A lawyer representing Kennedy told reporters last week they would appeal any ruling that went against them.
The ruling could prompt Democrats to bring similar lawsuits against Kennedy in other states where he gathered signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot.
The FBI is investigating alleged attempts by Iran to target the then-Biden-Harris campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The alleged targeting via spear-fishing emails occurred before Biden announced he would exit the 2024 presidential race, the sources said.
While the campaign was targeted, the alleged hack was not successful, sources added.
The FBI is investigating a purported hack of the Trump campaign, according to a brief statement from the agency earlier Monday.
The FBI did not attribute the hack to anyone in its statement.
A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Trump adviser Roger Stone has also been informed that his email accounts have been compromised, and that he’s cooperating with any investigation into the matter.
The Washington Post first reported the news.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders
Biden, Obama, Clintons tentatively slated to speak at DNC: Sources
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week, sources familiar said.
The working speaking schedule, which can always change, is as follows, according to the sources:
Monday: President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday: Former President Barack Obama Wednesday: Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, former President Bill Clinton Thursday: Vice President Kamala Harris
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks and Fritz Farrow
Trump posts on X ahead of Musk interview
Trump posted on X for the first time in nearly a year ahead of his conversation with Elon Musk scheduled for Monday night.
The video posted is a previously released campaign ad referencing his multiple indictments and telling supporters, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.”
The last time Trump posted on X was Aug. 24, 2023. It was a picture of his mugshot from Fulton County, when he turned himself in to authorities following his election interference indictment in Georgia.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim
Trump to be interviewed by Elon Musk tonight
Trump, in a post to his conservative social media site Truth Social, announced he will be interviewed live by Musk on X at 8 p.m. ET.
It will mark a major return for Trump to X, formerly known as Twitter, since he was banned from the site following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was reinstated in late 2022 but declined to become active on the site again, despite boasting 88 million followers.
Musk endorsed Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president. Recently, Musk has amplified misinformation about voting and elections on his X feed.
Walz discusses ‘whirlwind’ 1st week on the campaign trail
In a video posted on his X account, the Minnesota governor discussed what he called “not a normal week” since being named as Harris’ running mate.
Walz confirmed some details reported previously by ABC News and others, including that he informed Harris’ vetting team that he had not used a teleprompter before.
“Not a normal week, which is a good thing. Started by missing a call from the Vice President, pretty important one. And then got that call and honored to join the ticket with Kamala Harris to take us in a great direction,” Walz said.
“After that, it has been a whirlwind. We got on a plane and we flew to Philly, and they told me that in an hour I’d be giving a speech and there would be a teleprompter, something I had never used in my life, so certainly terrified, but was lifted up by the folks in Philly.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Harris wraps battleground state blitz, Vance makes rounds on Sunday shows
Over the weekend, Harris closed out a cross-country tour that included stops in battleground states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona, as well as North Carolina and Nevada.
New polling released Saturday showed Harris taking the lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin among likely voters. The New York Times/Siena College polls showed Harris at 50% among likely voters in each state, while Trump polled at 46%.
Vance, too, campaigned in key 2024 states and made the rounds on the Sunday shows. During his cable news appearances, Vance reiterated campaign talking points on immigration and repeatedly hit Harris for not sitting down for extensive media interviews and laying out her agenda. Harris has done brief gaggles with reporters and said she’d unveil an economic policy platform this week.
Vance responds to mass deportation plan: ‘Let’s start with one million’
Sen. JD Vance told ABC News he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration’s policies, such as ending “Remain in Mexico,” for the ongoing migrant crisis.
When asked how he and Trump would accomplish their stated goal of mass deporting as many as 20 million immigrants — a proposal experts previously told ABC News would be a “nightmare” — Vance said they would take a “sequential approach.”
“I mean do you go knock on doors and ask people for their papers? What do you do,” Karl asked.
“You start with what’s achievable,” Vance said. “I think that if you deport a lot of violent criminals and frankly if you make it harder to hire illegal labor, which undercuts the wages of American workers, I think you go a lot of the way to solving the illegal immigration problem.”
“I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people? Let’s start with one million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed. And then we can go from there,” Vance said.
Harris cautions donors to ‘not take anything for granted’
Vice President Kamala Harris attended a fundraiser in San Francisco Sunday where she maintained her campaign “will win this election,” but cautioned donors to “not take anything for granted.”
“I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm out there,” Harris said, adding, “And you know, I’ve never been one to really believe in the polls — whether they’re up or they’re down.”
“What we know is the stakes are so high and we can take nothing for granted in this critical moment,” she continued. “So we will fuel our campaign as we have, with enthusiasm and optimism, but also with a deep commitment to the hard work it’s going to take, and to campaign.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi introduced Harris at the event, touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration and the background of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, several times calling the Harris-Walz ticket “the freedom ticket.”
“[Harris] makes us all so proud. She brings us so much joy. She gives us so much hope,” Pelosi said, calling the vice president “politically very astute.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is reviving his promise to build “the best Iron Dome in the world,” a version of the air defense system built by Israel that experts say probably wouldn’t make much sense for a country with friendly neighbors like Canada and Mexico.
In a conversation Monday night with Elon Musk on his social media platform X, Trump defended his idea by saying “it just takes one maniac to, you know, start something.”
“Israel has it. We’re gonna have the best Iron Dome in the world. We need it, and we’re gonna make it all,” he told Musk.
Here’s a look at what Iron Dome is, why experts question its utility for the U.S. and how Trump might actually be talking about something else:
What is an ‘Iron Dome’?
Iron Dome was developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to knock down short-range rockets, such as the ones lobbed from the border of Lebanon by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
Together with other systems like David’s Sling, which is designed to intercept ballistic and cruise missiles, Israel’s Iron Dome is part of a nationwide missile-defense shield over the country, whose residents live under the near-constant threat of attack from its neighbors.
The multi-billion dollar system was credited with helping to knock down hundreds of missiles and drones last April when Iran launched an attack. Israel’s Iron Dome could play a major role in coming days if Iran follows through on its threat to attack Israel again, this time in retaliation for the recent killing of a Hamas leader visiting Tehran.
As part of a broader policy to help defend Israel, the U.S. has paid some $3 billion to Israel to date for Iron Dome batteries, interceptors and maintenance costs, according to a recent analysis by the Congressional Research Service.
Could the US benefit from its own ‘Iron Dome’?
The short answer from experts is probably not. With allies north and south of the U.S., and oceans on either side, the U.S. doesn’t face the same kind of short-range missile threat as Israel.
That reality probably explains why the military hasn’t asked Congress to pay to build one. A U.S. defense official told ABC News last month that U.S. Northern Command — — the military combatant command charged with defending the homeland from foreign missiles — has not expressed interest in a larger, nationwide missile defense system either.
The military already employs multiple systems “that together provide agility in responding to potential threats, which increases available options for the nation’s leaders,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in July.
Among those systems already in place in the U.S. is the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program, which was designed to knock down rogue long-range missiles from a country like North Korea. It’s possible the U.S. could try to bolster the capability of this existing system to wipe out any threat of a large-scale attack from a country with a hefty arsenal like Russia.
But expanding that system to cover every inch of the U.S. though would likely cost billions of dollars at a time when the country also is trying to protect against attacks in cyber and space. China and Russia are now pursing hypersonic weapons, while administration officials this spring acknowledged Russia’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities in space, greatly complicating what it means for any one system to keep the U.S. safe.
So why does Trump keep talking about building an Iron Dome?
Trump often latches on to the idea of building things for the country because it’s a tangible example of a policy idea.
In the case of 2016, Trump talked about building a border wall as a way of saying he would take illegal immigration seriously, even as experts warned the idea wasn’t practical. By the time Trump left office, only about a quarter of the U.S. border with Mexico had new fencing — most of which replaced smaller existing structures.
In the case of an Iron Dome, Trump seems to be signaling another shift in U.S. policy — away from diplomatic engagements with other countries in favor of isolationist policies that rely on heavy military spending to deter adversaries.
For its part, the GOP endorsed the idea as part of its official policy platform at the Republican convention in July.
Elbridge Colby, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the Trump administration, said last July that he saw the new GOP platform as an intentional shift.
The GOP focuses on protecting the homeland, “not looking for monsters to destroy,” Colby said.
(WASHINGTON) — Despite a new Democratic opponent who entered the race some three weeks ago, former President Donald Trump appears to be still focused on the man no longer in the race — President Joe Biden.
Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket, the Trump campaign and his allies have attempted to turn their focus toward the new Democratic rival — but on the campaign trail so far, Trump has kept up attacks on the current president as he struggles to define Harris.
At campaign rallies and during interviews, Trump has characterized Biden exiting the race as a “coup” even though Democrats rallied around the newly minted ticket and largely haven’t pushed back on the sudden change in presidential candidates. Most recently, he brought it up during his conversation with tech mogul Elon Musk on X Monday night.
“We have somebody that hasn’t received one vote for president and she’s running,” Trump said during a news conference in Mar-a-Lago last week.
He also falsely claimed that Democrats would have invoked the 25th Amendment if Biden didn’t step down willingly. The 25th Amendment says that the vice president replaces the president if they die in office or resign, or if members of the president’s Cabinet decide the president is unable to fulfill the duties of the office. Some members of Trump’s own Cabinet and his allies discussed invoking the 25th Amendment after the attacks at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
And even as he says he finds Harris to be an easier rival, Trump has repeatedly pushed baseless claims about the possibility of Harris being replaced, saying that Biden could make a “comeback” or that the Democratic Party could replace Harris with another candidate.
So far on the campaign trail, many of Trump’s attacks on Harris have centered on his old lines of attack against Biden and painting her as “worse” than the sitting president, including calling her “more radical” than Biden.
As he attacks both Biden and Harris, Trump insists that he hasn’t recalibrated his campaign to focus solely on Harris, saying, “It’s the same policies: open borders, weak on crime.”
In a direct attack against Harris, Trump has repeated the false claim that Harris was appointed “border czar,” a label that has stuck with the vice president since Biden tasked her with leading diplomatic talks to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
Trump has also attacked her for supporting a ban on fracking, single-payer healthcare such as “Medicare for All,” inflation and the economy.
In addition to her record as vice president, the Trump campaign has tried to differentiate themselves from Harris, scrutinizing her over the lack of media appearances since becoming the nominee.
“Kamala refuses to do interviews because her team realizes she is unable to answer questions, much like Biden was not able to answer questions, but for different reasons,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
The Trump campaign stresses that in the more than 20 days since Harris has become the nominee, she has not yet had media availability.
By contrast, in the past week, Trump held the news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, and his running mate Sen. JD Vance spoke to the press daily during a battleground blitz mirroring Harris’ trip with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) — Missouri voters will get to decide in November whether to enshrine abortion rights into their state’s constitution.
On Tuesday, the Missouri Secretary of State certified a ballot initiative that would end Missouri’s abortion ban, allowing it to appear on the November ballot as Amendment 3.
This means that abortion-related ballot initiatives are currently confirmed on the general election ballots in seven states.
If passed in November by Missouri voters, the initiative would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution until fetal viability, which is generally around 24 weeks, and would allow abortions after fetal viability if a doctor determines it necessary to protect the health of the mother.
Abortion is currently fully banned in Missouri with few exceptions.
The ballot initiative, spearheaded by the group Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, would also enshrine rights related to reproductive healthcare into the Missouri state Constitution, “including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions,” according to the text of the initiative.
The initiative needs more than 50% support to pass.
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a press call after the announcement that it marks a “monumental achievement for our campaign, and a significant step forward for the rights of all Missourians.”
Organizers supporting the ballot initiative say that if the initiative passes, Missouri could be the first state to overturn a near-total ban on abortion that took effect after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade –the case that had provided a constitutional right to abortion access — in June 2022.
Since Roe v. Wade was overruled, 22 states have successfully enacted restrictions or bans on abortion, including enforcing pre-Roe laws, that are currently in effect. Fourteen states currently have total or near-total abortion bans.
The Missouri ballot initiative had the support of fashion model and TV host Karlie Kloss, Jared Kushner’s sister-in-law. Kushner is also Trump’s son-in-law and a former White House adviser.
Kloss wrote in The Washington Post in April that the initiative “is an important step toward that future. We have to pass it, and then we have to build on it. I’m committed to staying in this fight until abortion is safely and affordably available for every patient nationwide.” According to St. Louis Public Radio, Kloss also helped gather signatures at the beginning of April for the petition.
The announcement of the Missouri initiative being certified comes just a day after the Arizona secretary of state announced that voters would also vote this November on whether to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitution, after an abortion-rights ballot initiative was approved for the ballot.
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, 2024 in St Cloud, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Washington and is preparing to roll out her economic plan on the road in North Carolina on Friday, which will mark her first major policy rollout since becoming the Democratic nominee. As Donald Trump looks for a campaign reset, he spoke with Elon Musk live on Tuesday and will deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris to roll out economic plan on Friday
Harris will outline her economic policy in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, her campaign announced, making it her first major policy rollout since jumping into the race.
Harris’ speech will detail her plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” a campaign official said.
The vice president has heavily focused her stump speech on the economy while on the campaign trail in recent weeks, saying over the weekend she would look to eliminate taxes on tips earned by service workers — a proposal Trump announced earlier this summer.
Harris’ college sorority creates PAC
The historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., of which Vice President Kamala Harris counts herself a member, started its own political PAC last week, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission posted Monday.
The committee is named Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, the filing shows.
Harris has been an AKA since her days as a student at the historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. Harris on Monday visited the campus, her office confirmed to ABC News, but it’s not clear why she was there.
In July, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris spoke at the AKA’s annual Boulé in Dallas, Texas. Since then, as a candidate, she’s also addressed similar national gatherings of two other historically Black sororities, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
Trump says he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania after assassination attempt
After discussing the assassination attempt made against him in Pennsylvania in July, former President Donald Trump said he’s planning a trip back to Butler in October.
“We’re going back to Butler; we’re gonna go back in October,” Trump said, adding, “Butler is a big, great area.”
Addressing what he’ll say when he returns, Trump told Musk, “I think I’ll probably start by saying I was so horribly interrupted.”
Trump discusses assassination attempt with Musk, says he turned head at ‘perfect angle’
During his conversation with Musk, former President Donald Trump addressed the assassination attempt made against him during a campaign rally in July.
“It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle,” Trump said of the bullet, which grazed his right ear while his head was turned.
During the discussion, Trump mentioned the man who was killed in the shooting, saying, it was a “very sad situation.”
“We lost somebody that was firefighter, a great Trumper,” Trump said of Corey Comperatore, adding, “He was a just a fantastic family [man] and a fantastic man.”
Trump and Musk’s conversation on X appears to be delayed
The conversation between former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appears to be delayed, with many X users reporting they cannot access the Spaces conversation.
“This Space is not available,” appeared for some users on X.
The conversation was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Judge orders RFK Jr. off New York ballot
A New York judge ruled Monday that the thousands of signatures gathered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign in the state were “invalidated” after a Democrat-aligned group argued he misled voters by listing as his home an address he rarely visits.
The judge, Christina Ryba, ordered the New York Board of Elections to not include Kennedy’s name on the ballot this fall.
A lawyer representing Kennedy told reporters last week they would appeal any ruling that went against them.
The ruling could prompt Democrats to bring similar lawsuits against Kennedy in other states where he gathered signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot.
The FBI is investigating alleged attempts by Iran to target the then-Biden-Harris campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The alleged targeting via spear-fishing emails occurred before Biden announced he would exit the 2024 presidential race, the sources said.
While the campaign was targeted, the alleged hack was not successful, sources added.
The FBI is investigating a purported hack of the Trump campaign, according to a brief statement from the agency earlier Monday.
The FBI did not attribute the hack to anyone in its statement.
A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Trump adviser Roger Stone has also been informed that his email accounts have been compromised, and that he’s cooperating with any investigation into the matter.
The Washington Post first reported the news.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders
Biden, Obama, Clintons tentatively slated to speak at DNC: Sources
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week, sources familiar said.
The working speaking schedule, which can always change, is as follows, according to the sources:
Monday: President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday: Former President Barack Obama Wednesday: Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, former President Bill Clinton Thursday: Vice President Kamala Harris
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks and Fritz Farrow
Trump posts on X ahead of Musk interview
Trump posted on X for the first time in nearly a year ahead of his conversation with Elon Musk scheduled for Monday night.
The video posted is a previously released campaign ad referencing his multiple indictments and telling supporters, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.”
The last time Trump posted on X was Aug. 24, 2023. It was a picture of his mugshot from Fulton County, when he turned himself in to authorities following his election interference indictment in Georgia.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim
Trump to be interviewed by Elon Musk tonight
Trump, in a post to his conservative social media site Truth Social, announced he will be interviewed live by Musk on X at 8 p.m. ET.
It will mark a major return for Trump to X, formerly known as Twitter, since he was banned from the site following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was reinstated in late 2022 but declined to become active on the site again, despite boasting 88 million followers.
Musk endorsed Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president. Recently, Musk has amplified misinformation about voting and elections on his X feed.
Walz discusses ‘whirlwind’ 1st week on the campaign trail
In a video posted on his X account, the Minnesota governor discussed what he called “not a normal week” since being named as Harris’ running mate.
Walz confirmed some details reported previously by ABC News and others, including that he informed Harris’ vetting team that he had not used a teleprompter before.
“Not a normal week, which is a good thing. Started by missing a call from the Vice President, pretty important one. And then got that call and honored to join the ticket with Kamala Harris to take us in a great direction,” Walz said.
“After that, it has been a whirlwind. We got on a plane and we flew to Philly, and they told me that in an hour I’d be giving a speech and there would be a teleprompter, something I had never used in my life, so certainly terrified, but was lifted up by the folks in Philly.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Harris wraps battleground state blitz, Vance makes rounds on Sunday shows
Over the weekend, Harris closed out a cross-country tour that included stops in battleground states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona, as well as North Carolina and Nevada.
New polling released Saturday showed Harris taking the lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin among likely voters. The New York Times/Siena College polls showed Harris at 50% among likely voters in each state, while Trump polled at 46%.
Vance, too, campaigned in key 2024 states and made the rounds on the Sunday shows. During his cable news appearances, Vance reiterated campaign talking points on immigration and repeatedly hit Harris for not sitting down for extensive media interviews and laying out her agenda. Harris has done brief gaggles with reporters and said she’d unveil an economic policy platform this week.
Vance responds to mass deportation plan: ‘Let’s start with one million’
Sen. JD Vance told ABC News he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration’s policies, such as ending “Remain in Mexico,” for the ongoing migrant crisis.
When asked how he and Trump would accomplish their stated goal of mass deporting as many as 20 million immigrants — a proposal experts previously told ABC News would be a “nightmare” — Vance said they would take a “sequential approach.”
“I mean do you go knock on doors and ask people for their papers? What do you do,” Karl asked.
“You start with what’s achievable,” Vance said. “I think that if you deport a lot of violent criminals and frankly if you make it harder to hire illegal labor, which undercuts the wages of American workers, I think you go a lot of the way to solving the illegal immigration problem.”
“I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people? Let’s start with one million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed. And then we can go from there,” Vance said.
Harris cautions donors to ‘not take anything for granted’
Vice President Kamala Harris attended a fundraiser in San Francisco Sunday where she maintained her campaign “will win this election,” but cautioned donors to “not take anything for granted.”
“I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm out there,” Harris said, adding, “And you know, I’ve never been one to really believe in the polls — whether they’re up or they’re down.”
“What we know is the stakes are so high and we can take nothing for granted in this critical moment,” she continued. “So we will fuel our campaign as we have, with enthusiasm and optimism, but also with a deep commitment to the hard work it’s going to take, and to campaign.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi introduced Harris at the event, touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration and the background of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, several times calling the Harris-Walz ticket “the freedom ticket.”
“[Harris] makes us all so proud. She brings us so much joy. She gives us so much hope,” Pelosi said, calling the vice president “politically very astute.”
Elon Musk account on X displayed on a laptop screen and Donald Trump account on X displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on July 24, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump’s conversation with Elon Musk on X Monday night started almost an hour late as the social media platform was plagued with technical difficulties before the two were connected for a conversation that covered illegal border crossings, the pandemic, and Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
For about 40 minutes, listeners who could get into X Spaces were greeted with hold music, with Musk eventually claiming on X that the site appeared to be facing “a massive DDOS,” Distributed Denial of Service attack.
Eventually, at about a quarter to 9 p.m. ET, Musk kickstarted the conversation, praising the former president for how he handled the assassination attempt on his life at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month, mentioning Trump shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as Secret Service took him off stage.
“When I stood up before the hand, before the, you know, the fist in the air, they didn’t know if I was alive. Nobody did. And when I put the fist up, they were, they were just relieved and happy and thrilled, and the place went crazy,” Trump told Musk as the two talked about the incident for over 20 minutes.
Throughout the conversation, Trump returned to familiar talking points, including praising authoritarian leaders, slamming and calling President Joe Biden names, and disparaging immigrants.
During their talk, one topic of contention came up between the two — climate change, though Musk called it “global warming.” Musk repeatedly advocated for sustainable energy during the chat, while Trump continuously stumped for fossil fuels, claiming instead he’s more concerned about “nuclear warming.”
“I’ve heard, in terms of the fossil fuel, because even to create your electric car and create the electricity needed for the electric car, you know, fossil fuel is what really creates that, at the generating plants,” Trump said after Musk talked about the possibility of air being uncomfortable to breathe in the future.
Musk pushed back, telling Trump he wasn’t claiming “the house is on fire immediately,” but that “it’s probably better to move there faster than slower … without vilifying the oil and gas industry and without causing hardship in the short term.”
Still, as he mentioned global threats, Trump joked there would be “more oceanfront property” due to rising sea levels and global warming.
“You know, the biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one 1/8 of an inch over the next 400 years, and you’ll have more, you’ll have more oceanfront property, right? The biggest threat is not that. The biggest threat is nuclear warming because we have five countries now that have significant nuclear power,” Trump claimed.
Both men railed against Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, with Trump slamming her over the border, without mentioning he told the GOP members of the House to tank the recent comprehensive immigration bill that GOP Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford helped author.
“She’s saying she was strong on the border. ‘We’re going to be strong.’ Well, she doesn’t have to say [it]; she could close it up right now. … They could do things right now. It’s horrible,” Trump said.
During the X conversation, Trump once again claimed — without evidence — that President Biden leaving the race was a “coup.”
Trump continued to complain about Harris throughout the talk, bringing up her new TIME magazine cover, saying she looked like his wife, Melania Trump. He also argued that the vice president had gotten a makeover in the media.
“She is terrible. She’s terrible, but she’s getting a free ride. I saw a picture of her on TIME magazine today. She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live. It was a drawing and actually looked very much like our great first lady, Melania … She didn’t look like Kamala,” Trump said, mispronouncing the vice president’s name.
Wrapping up just after Trump praised Musk for the audience size of their Spaces chat, which seemed to reach around 1.3 million at peak, Musk reaffirmed his support for Trump.
“I think we’re in massive trouble, frankly, with a Kamala administration, and that’s my honest opinion,” Musk said. “I think, really, it’s essential that, that you win for the good of the country this election.”
Reacting to the chat, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign slammed the pair as “self-obsessed rich guys.”
“Donald Trump’s extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com. Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself — self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024,” a statement from the Harris campaign rep said.
The campaign also poked fun at the more than 40-minute wait for the interview to begin by resharing on the Kamala HQ Truth Social account a previous Trump post on Truth Social which criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign launch event on X last year that was also delayed by glitches.
“Wow! the DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!” the post read.
Last May, DeSantis had planned to begin his audio-only campaign launch with Musk, but repeated issues and crashes stalled the start of the Spaces event for almost 30 minutes, after alternating stretches of silence and crackling audio.
At one point, the Spaces was abruptly ended and then restarted — all as Musk and others could apparently be heard discussing the malfunctions behind the scenes.
Musk suggested during the DeSantis presidential campaign broadcast that the problems were due to strain on the platform’s servers and “scaling issues” because his own account was involved and has a following of 140 million users.
(NEW YORK) — Authorities are looking for a man in connection to a burglary at the Trump for President 2024 campaign office in Ashburn, Virginia, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Sheriff’s deputies said they were alerted to the break-in at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET, but the suspect was gone before officials arrived on the scene.
Surveillance video provided by officials showed the suspect — an adult male — wearing dark clothing, a dark cap and a backpack.
The investigation is ongoing and the sheriff’s office did not indicate if anything was taken or left at the scene.
“It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into,” Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a news release. “We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind.”
The campaign office, which is leased, also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee, officials said.
President Joe Biden speaks after his Republican opponent Donald Trump was injured following a shooting at an election rally in Pennsylvania, at the Rehoboth Beach Police Department, in Rehoboth Beach, Del., July 13, 2024. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will speak at the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago, the White House said on Monday.
“He’s looking forward to, as he tends to do, speak directly to the American people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “talk about the moment that we’re at, what’s at stake, and continue to talk about an issue that is incredibly important to him, which is unity, making sure that we’re unified and we continue to do the work that the president has been successful in doing in the past three and a half years.”
Jean-Pierre said Biden will spend time over the next few days focusing on his upcoming remarks.
“I think you can expect this president to take this moment,” she said. “He understands this is an incredibly important moment … He’s still very much the leader of the party, right? And he takes that very seriously. And he’s also very proud of his vice president.”
Sources had told ABC News that Biden, former President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the DNC.
The convention will take place from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22. Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly rallied the party to her side after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed her, was officially certified as the Democratic Party’s nominee last week.
Sources said the working speaking schedule, which can change, has Biden giving a speech on Monday night, as well as Hillary Clinton; Obama speaking on Tuesday, vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz and Bill Clinton speaking on Wednesday, and Harris speaking on Thursday.
Little over a month ago, it was all but certain Biden would be on stage at the DNC to accept the nomination. But after a poor debate performance against Donald Trump set off a firestorm of doubt among Democrats about Biden’s age and fitness to serve a second term, Biden announced he was exiting the race on July 21.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS, Biden elaborated on his decision not to run for reelection.
The president first cited calls from his Democratic colleagues, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who were worried about how it might impact down-ballot races. He said he worried questions about his viability would be a “real distraction.”
He also said he considered himself as a transitional figure and that beating Trump was the most important thing for him.
“Number two, when I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president,” he said. “I can’t even say how old I am, it’s hard for me to get out of my mouth. And, but things got moving so quickly, it didn’t happen. And the combination was that I thought it was a critical issue for me still, it’s not a joke, maintaining this democracy.”
“But I thought it was important because although it’s a great honor being president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing, and that is we must, we must, we must defeat Trump,” he said.
