PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are veering sharply in how they gear up for Tuesday's presidential debate, setting up a showdown that reflects not just two separate visions for the country but two politicians who approach big moments very differently.
The vice president is cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh where she can focus on honing crisp two-minute answers, per the debate's rules. She's been working with aides since Thursday and chose a venue that allows the Democratic nominee the option of mingling with swing-state voters.
Trump, the Republican nominee, publicly dismisses the value of studying for the debate. The former president is choosing instead to fill his days with campaign-related events on the premise that he'll know what he needs to do once he steps on the debate stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
“You can go in with all the strategy you want but you have to sort of feel it out as the debate’s taking place,” he said during a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Trump then quoted former boxing great Mike Tyson, who said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
Harris has said she is prepared for Trump to rattle off insults and misrepresent facts, even as her campaign has seen value in focusing on the middle class and the prospects of a better future for the country.
“We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth,” Harris said in a radio interview for the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. “He tends to fight for himself, not for the American people, and I think that’s going to come out during the course of the debate."
In her own preparation, Harris has the Democratic consultant Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, portraying Trump. She likes to describe Trump as having a “playbook” of falsehoods to go after Democrats such as Clinton and former President Barack Obama.
Harris has said she understands Trump on a deeper psychological level. She has tried in speeches like her remarks at the Democratic National Convention to show that she would be a stronger leader than him — an argument that gets at Trump's own desire to project and show strength.
Trump's June 27 debate against President Joe Biden shook up the election, with Biden's disastrous performance ultimately leading to him stepping aside as the Democratic nominee and endorsing Harris. Both campaigns know the first in-person meeting between Harris and Trump could be a decisive event in a tight race.
Trump is preemptively criticizing the ABC News debate moderators, claiming he will not be treated fairly. But he said he plans to let Harris speak, just as he did during his debate with Biden.
“I let him talk. I’m gonna let her talk,” he said during the Hannity town hall.
Trump aides said that this time would be no different than the previous debate and that the former president would not be doing any more traditional prep. There are no stand-ins, no sets, no play-acting.
Instead, they point to Trump’s frequent interviews, including taking questions at lengthy press conferences, sitting for hourlong podcasts, and participating in town halls with friendly hosts like Hannity.
Trump also meets regularly with policy advisers who are experts on issues that may come up during the debate. During these informal sessions, they talk about the issues, Trump’s policies while he was in office, and the plans he’s put forth for a second term.
“I have meetings on it. We talk about it. But there’s not a lot you can do. You either know your subject or not. You either have good policy or not,” he said in a New Hampshire radio interview.
Before the last debate Trump held sessions with notable Republicans like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who at the time was under consideration to be Trump’s vice presidential pick. This time he has held sessions with Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate who is now backing Trump.
Gabbard, who is also now a member of Trump’s transition team, was brought in specifically to help Trump this time around because she knows Harris, having debated her when the two were running for the Democratic nomination in 2020. She also hosted a recent town hall with Trump in Wisconsin.
Trump, aides insist, intends to put Harris on the defensive. He wants to portray her as too liberal as he tries to tie her to Biden’s economic record and points out her reversals on issues such as a fracking ban that she no longer supports.
“We look forward for the opportunity for Americans to see her on stage, incapable of defending her policies and flip-flops,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “The president’s proven he has a command of the issues, she does not.”
Harris' team is banking that Trump will come off as extreme and that they can use the debate as a springboard to further build on the momentum that her short campaign has generated. The campaign plans to use the pre-debate weekend to hold 2,000 events with volunteers and reach more than one million voters.
“With hundreds of offices and thousands of staff across the battlegrounds, we are able to harness all the buzz around the debate and break through to hard-to-reach voters,” said Dan Kanninen, the campaign's battleground states director, in a statement.
Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
This combination of photos taken at campaign rallies in Atlanta shows Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3. (AP Photo)
The FBI said former President Donald Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination ” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.
Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a July rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club in Florida while he was golfing. No injuries were reported. Officials say the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local law enforcement.
He was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will be demanding more Secret Service protection for Trump, saying he needs more attention than any other protectee.
“He’s the most attacked. He’s the most threatened, even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office,” Johnson, R-La., said on “Fox & Friends.” “We are demanding in the House that he have every asset available.”
The Republican speaker was on his way to visit Trump on Sunday when the former president was targeted while golfing. The suspect is now in custody.
Johnson and his wife, Kelly, visited with Trump afterward for about three hours, and the speaker said he was in “good spirits.”
The House’s bipartisan task force on the July assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania is monitoring the situation and has requested a briefing. Johnson said the panel was scheduled to hold a hearing later this month as it investigates the political violence.
“There’s going to be reports and recommendations coming forward, and Congress will act swiftly,” Johnson said. “We need accountability.”
Johnson said he has “no faith” in Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The House impeached Mayorkas earlier this year over the department’s handling of immigration, but the Senate declined to consider the charges in a trial.
Ryan Wesley Routh briefly entered a Florida courtroom Monday morning for his initial appearance, wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit and his arms and legs shackled. He sat quietly for about five minutes with no visible signs of nervousness before marshals led him back out to await his hearing.
The Associated Press filmed Ryan Wesley Routh in April 2022 at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A placard he was holding said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” He wore a blue vest with the American flag on the back, along with a scarf and T-shirt in the colors of his national flag, while participating in a small rally.
Other participants held posters drawing attention to Mariupol, which was under siege at the time and is now occupied by Russia. That same day, Routh also paid tribute to foreign citizens killed during the war near a makeshift memorial sign reading “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
Ryan Wesley Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army nor collaborated with the military in any capacity, according to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, Routh has periodically contacted the international legion with what Shahuri described as “nonsensical ideas.” His plans and ideas can best be described as delusional.”
Shahuri, speaking to The Associated Press, firmly denied any connection to Routh. The International Legion of Ukraine was created shortly after the outbreak of the war by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of foreign citizens “wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security,” according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
Zelenskyy released a statement on X regarding the apparent assassination attempt: “I am glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family. It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly. This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe.”
Trump campaign leaders are crediting the Secret Service with keeping the former president safe following an apparent assassination attempt in Florida.
In an email sent to staff Sunday evening, senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote, “Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take the life of President Trump.”
“Thankfully, no one was injured at the Golf Course. President Trump and everyone accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service,” they wrote.
They added that campaign staffers’ safety is “always our top priority” and asked those receiving the email to “remain vigilant” and “observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness."
The leaders of a bipartisan task force in Congress that has been investigating the assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July said it is monitoring the Florida situation and has requested a briefing by the Secret Service.
“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. “The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”
It was not immediately clear whether the incident would affect Trump's campaign schedule.
On Monday night, he was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform. Trump planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, with his former press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, followed by a rally Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.
Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not advised about any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the club, one of three he owns in the state.
The man who authorities say pointed a rifle with a scope into former President Donald Trump’s golf club and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The officials identified the suspect to the AP but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Secret Service agents shot at the suspect, who was taken into custody after fleeing the scene of what the FBI is calling an apparent attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee. Authorities are working to determine a motive.
— By Associated Press reporters Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak
Police officers direct traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he boards a plane at Harry Reid International Airport after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Security agents talk at the entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, March 31, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
A police officer directs traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
FILE - The motorcade for President Donald Trump arrives at Trump International Golf Club, Feb. 15, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ryan Wesley Routh pays tribute to foreign citizens killed during Russia-Ukraine war in a central square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ryan Wesley Routh takes part in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
