Trump recommits to a Sept. 10 debate and lashes out at Harris at news conference

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump recommitted to debating Vice President Kamala Harris after recently backing out, holding a lengthy news conference Thursday in which he taunted his new rival, boasted of his crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, and lashed out at questions about the enthusiasm her campaign has been generating.

As the Republican presidential nominee addressed reporters at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, ABC announced that Trump and Harris, the Democratic nominee, have agreed to a Sept. 10 debate, setting up a widely anticipated faceoff in an already unparalleled election. Trump said he had proposed three debates with three television networks in September.

Trump again wrongly insisted there had been a “peaceful transfer” of power in 2021 and renewed attacks on Republican rivals like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whom Trump has harshly criticized since Kemp refused to go along with his false theories of election fraud.

In taking questions from reporters for more than an hour, Trump tried to draw a contrast with Harris, who has not held a news conference since President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race.

Trump's decision to go on ABC sets up a high-stakes moment in an election where Biden's catastrophic performance in the last debate set in motion his withdrawal.

Just five days earlier, he had declared he would not debate on ABC and said his agreement with the network had been “terminated.” He wrote on his social media site that if Harris wouldn’t appear on Fox News on Sept. 4 instead, “I won’t see her at all.”

On Thursday, he announced a change of heart — and tried to pressure Harris to agree to two more September debates on Fox and on NBC.

Asked what he will do if a Harris only agrees to the ABC debate, he said: “I don’t know how that’s gonna work out. We’d like to do three debates. We think we should do three debates.”

A few hours after the news conference, Harris told reporters she was "glad he has finally committed” to debate her on ABC on Sept. 10, the date that had originally been set for a Biden faceoff against Trump and which her campaign has long stuck to.

“I'm looking forward to it and hope he shows up,” she said.

Thursday's event was Trump's first public appearance since Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Trump called Walz a “radical left man.”

“Between her and him, there’s never been anything like this,” Trump said. “There’s certainly never been anybody so liberal like these two.”

He repeatedly suggested Harris was not intelligent enough to debate him. Harris, for her part, has tried to goad Trump into debating and told an audience in Atlanta recently that if he had anything to say about her, he should " say it to my face.”

Trump grew visibly perturbed when pressed on Harris’ crowds and newfound Democratic enthusiasm, dismissing a question about his lighter campaign schedule as “stupid.”

Trump says he has not “recalibrated” his campaign despite facing a new opponent, a dynamic some Republican strategists have quietly complained about.

When asked what assets Harris possessed, Trump said: “She’s a woman. She represents certain groups of people.”

Trump has repeatedly — and falsely — accused Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, of previously downplaying that she is Black.

Trump recognized some changing patterns with his new opponent, acknowledging he may not be as popular with Black women, one of Democrats’ key voting blocs. He expressed a lot of confidence in his support from Black men.

“It could be I’ll be affected somewhat with Black females but we’re really doing well,” he said. “And I think ultimately they’ll like me better because I’m going to give them security, safety and jobs. I’m going to give them a good economy.”

Trump campaign officials told reporters ahead of the news conference they believe Harris is currently enjoying a honeymoon period.

They argued the fundamentals of the race have not changed and the mood of the country remains sour, with Americans frustrated by the state of the economy, the administration and the country’s directions. They say that while Harris has energized the Democratic base, she will not be able to win over Republicans or convert independents or the persuadable voters they are focused on targeting.

Trump’s campaign plans to spend the next three months hammering Harris as “failed, weak and dangerously liberal,” blaming her for every one of the the Biden administration’s unpopular policies and mocking her mannerisms and speaking style.

Trump suggested abortion will not be a major issue in the campaign and the outcome in November.

He insisted that the matter “has become much less of an issue” since the Supreme Court ended the federal constitutional right to abortion services and returned control of the matter to state governments. But the issue is widely seen as a general election liability, and Trump named states such as Ohio and Kansas that have since voted to protect abortion rights.

Trump also said he expected Florida “will go in a little more liberal way than people thought” when it votes to repeal an abortion ban later this year, but he did not respond to questions asking how he would vote.

Trump argued that Democrats, Republicans and “everybody” are pleased with the results of the 2022 ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Trump’s actions within the GOP, however, suggest he knows that Democrats already have capitalized on Republican opposition to abortion rights and could do so again this fall. Trump single-handedly ensured that the Republican Party platform adopted at the 2024 convention in Milwaukee does not call for a national ban on abortion, and he has said repeatedly that hardliners in the party could cost the GOP in November.

The court’s decision, issued months ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, is widely cited as a reason that Democrats fared much better than expected in House and Senate contests. And Democrats have hammered Trump in paid advertisements blaming him and the justices he appointed for ending Roe.

Trump falsely claimed during the press conference that “nobody was killed on Jan. 6,” the date in 2021 when pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol amid Congress’ effort to certify Biden's 2020 election victory after Trump refused to concede.

Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego was shot and killed by a police officer as she climbed through a broken part of a Capitol door during the violent riot that breached the building.

To be sure, Trump has often cited Babbitt’s death while lamenting the treatment of those who first attended a rally outside the White House that day, then marched to the Capitol, many of whom fought with police and entered the building.

“I think those people were treated very badly. When you compare it to other things that took place in this country where a lot of people were killed,” Trump said Thursday.

He also falsely claimed more people attended his speech at a “Stop the Steal” rally before the riot than the famous March on Washington in 1963, the iconic event at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Trump was asked about Biden's comments in a CBS interview that he was “not confident” there would be a peaceful transfer of power if Trump were to lose.

“He should have brought this up at the debate if he had a problem. Of course there'll be a peaceful transfer, and there was last time.”

Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Darlene Superville in Romulus, Mich. contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens to a question as he speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by running mate Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz before she delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wis., Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Trump will hold a news conference in his first public appearance since rival Harris picked Walz

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Trump will hold a news conference in his first public appearance since rival Harris picked Walz

DILI, East Timor (AP) — Tens of thousands of East Timorese streamed Tuesday toward a seaside park for Pope Francis’ big Mass, held on the same field where St. John Paul II celebrated an historic liturgy during the nation’s fight for independence from Indonesia.

The Tacitolu park is said to have been a site where Indonesian troops disposed of bodies killed during their rule. Now it is known as the “Park of Peace” and features a larger-than-life-sized statue of John Paul to commemorate his 1989 visit, when the Polish pope shamed Indonesia for its human rights abuses and encouraged the overwhelmingly Catholic Timorese faithful.

John Paul’s visit helped draw attention to the plight of the Timorese people and shine a spotlight on the oppressiveness of Indonesia’s rule, during which as many as 200,000 people were killed over a quarter-century.

Francis celebrates a Mass at the same site Tuesday, following in John Paul's footsteps to cheer the Southeast Asian nation on two decades after it finally became an independent state in 2002. East Timor, known also as Timor-Leste, remains one of the poorest countries, with some 42% of its 1.3 million people living below the poverty line, according to the U.N. Development Program.

Unemployment is high, job opportunities in the formal sector are generally limited and most people are subsistence farmers with no steady income.

But the Timroese are deeply faithful – the territory has been overwhelmingly Catholic ever since Portuguese explorers first arrived in the early 1500s and some 97% of the population today is Catholic. They have turned out in droves to welcome the first pope to visit them as an independent nation, thronging the motorcade route as Francis arrived on Monday and pouring into the Tacitolu site for his Tuesday afternoon Mass.

“Yes this is a very grateful experience for us Timorese," said Ildefonso da Cruz Barreto, who was in the crowd greeting Francis outside the presidential palace. "During our fight for independence, the Catholic Church was a big part of the process.”

Government authorities said some 300,000 people had registered through their dioceses to attend the Mass, but President Jose Ramos-Horta said he expected 700,000 and the Vatican predicted as many as 750,000.

They lined up before dawn by the tens of thousands to enter the Tacitolu park, on the coast about 8 kilometers (nearly 5 miles) from downtown Dili. With hours to go until the service, the roads leading to it were jammed by cars, trucks and buses packed with people; others walked down the middle of the street, ignoring the sidewalks.

“For us, the pope is a reflection of the Lord Jesus, as a shepherd who wants to see his sheep, so we come to him with all our hearts as our worship,” said Alfonso de Jesus, who came from Baucau, the country’s second-largest city after Dili, about 128 kilometers east of the capital.

De Jesus, 56, was among the estimated 100,000 people who attended John Paul’s 1989 Mass, which made headlines around the world because of a riot that broke out just as it was ending. John Paul looked on as baton-wielding Indonesian plain-clothed police clashed with some 20 young men who shouted “Viva a independência” and “Viva el Papa!”

According to Associated Press reporting at the time, the men unfurled a banner in front of the altar and hurled chairs at the policemen. One banner read “Fretilin Welcomes You,” a reference to the independence movement that fought Indonesian rule since East Timor was annexed in 1976 after Portugal dismantled its centuries-old colonial empire.

Four women were reported hospitalized with injuries suffered after being crushed in the surging crowd. The pope wasn't harmed.

Amnesty International later expressed concern that some 40 people had been detained and tortured, though Indonesian authorities at the time denied any arrests or torture.

“The Mass was run very neat and orderly with very tight security,” De Jesus recalled more than three decades later. “But it was crushed by a brief riot at the end of the event.”

Many of the reports at the time quoted Dili Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo in trying to draw attention to the plight of the Timorese people. Belo would go onto win the Nobel Peace Prize with Ramos-Horta for their efforts to peacefully resolve the Timorese conflict.

But Belo has since been discredited, at least outside of East Timor, after the Vatican revealed in 2022 that he had been sanctioned for sexually abusing young boys. Now living in Portugal and blocked by the Vatican from having contact with East Timor, Belo's historic role has been seemingly erased from any official mention during Francis' visit.

Francis has cheered East Timor for the progress it has achieved since independence and is seeking to encourage the country to strengthen its public institutions and look out for the poorest and most vulnerable.

Francis opened his day Tuesday visiting a home for disabled children run by a congregation of religious sisters. Young girls, including one without arms, presented Francis with a traditional woven shawl known as a tais as he arrived at the Irmas Alma school.

As he stroked the hand of a young boy named Silvano in a stroller, Francis said taking care of children with such health needs “teaches us to care.”

“As he allows himself to be cared for, we must learn to be cared for by God, who loves us,” Francis said.

Francis then met with clergy and religious sisters at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where he praised the women of the church and said their dignity must always be respected.

“Women are the most important thing in the church, because they take care of the most needy,” he said. “They heal them. They accompany them.”

He also heard the story of Florentino de Jesus Martins, an 89-year-old layman who has worked as a catechist, teaching the faith for the archdiocese of Dili, but had to retire because of his Parkinson's disease.

Greeting him, Francis marveled at his dedication, saying he didn't let his ailment paralyze his zeal for spreading the faith. “It seems he's competing with St. Paul the Apostle,” he said.

AP researcher Randy Herschaft contributed from New York.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

People wait for Pope Francis visiting to children with disabilities of the Irmas Alma School in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis greets the people after the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

People wait for Pope Francis near the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

People wait for Pope Francis visiting to children with disabilities of the Irmas Alma School in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

People wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

People wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Pope Francis greets the people after the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis greets the people after the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis holds his cross pendant during a visit at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis greets the people after the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

People wait for Pope Francis near the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

People greet Pope Francis as he travels in a car on way to another venue in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Pope Francis greets people in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis leads the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis leads the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis arrives to lead the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis leads the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis leads the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis leads the holy mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope Francis arrives at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. "Let us also not forget that these children and adolescents have their dignity violated," Francis said. "In response, we are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people." (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. "Let us also not forget that these children and adolescents have their dignity violated," Francis said. "In response, we are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people." (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. "Let us also not forget that these children and adolescents have their dignity violated," Francis said. "In response, we are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people." (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A child attends Pope Francis's visit at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. "Let us also not forget that these children and adolescents have their dignity violated," Francis said. "In response, we are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people." (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis speaks during a visit at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. At left is Archbishop of Dili Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis consoles a person during a visit at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis consoles a person during a visit at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis speaks during a visit at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the 'Irmas ALMA' (Sisters of the Association of Lay Missionaries) School for Children with Disabilities in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis has indirectly acknowledged the abuse scandal in East Timor involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis greets people in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)