Trump looked like he might blink first in the game of presidential debate chicken when he said he wanted to debate Harris but on different terms than he agreed to with President Joe Biden. The president took himself out of the reelection contest soon after his performance against Trump in late June. 

Biden and Trump had agreed to participate in at least two debates — the June 27 event on CNN that resulted in Biden’s meltdown and a Sept. 10 showdown on ABC. That second event is what we are getting this evening, but it almost didn’t happen. 

When Harris was swapped in for Biden, Trump’s task got significantly harder. Rather than facing off with Harris in the relatively friendly confines of ABC, the same network that offered Biden his prime-time sit-down interview designed to reassure Democrats he was capable of staying in the race, the former president said he wanted Harris to agree to debate him with Fox playing host. 

“When I looked at the hostility of that, I said, ‘Why am I doing it? Let’s do it with another network.’ I want to do it,” Trump told reporters on Aug. 26. 

A day earlier, he hinted he was considering skipping the event, telling his followers on Truth Social to “stay tuned” after laying out his reasons for wanting to skip the debate. 

Trump had played coy about committing to debate Harris until she was confirmed as the nominee. A squishy position Harris’s team mocked him as “running scared” for suggesting. 

2024 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP AND HARRIS FACE OFF IN ABC SHOWDOWN

But while she was ribbing Trump for reneging on the deal he cut with Biden, she was trying to bend the rules in her favor as well. Reports made it out that her camp was pushing ABC to keep the mics “hot” all evening — ostensibly to goad Trump into interrupting her and providing another “I’m speaking” moment that was the high water mark of her debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020. 

Harris’s plan might have been to use the hot mics to interrupt Trump herself, according to Politico. But the plan was for naught, as Trump’s surrogates blasted her attempt to do what she had complained about Trump trying to do — changing the rules at the last minute to beat away some of the underbrush on the path to victory. 

During his period of oscillation, Trump announced he had agreed to debate Harris three times — Sept. 4 on Fox, Sept. 10 on ABC, and Sept. 25 on NBC. When Harris rejected his Sept. 4 proposal, Trump hosted a town hall on the network with Sean Hannity. And, as of now, Harris hasn’t agreed to a second matchup with her opponent.

Her performance tonight could tell us a lot about whether she wants a rematch or revenge or thinks she has dealt a knockout blow like the one Trump gave Biden. 

But all that is the appetizer for this evening’s main event. 

We’ve been busy tracking down the details of tonight’s debate. We’ll help you catch up on the story and get some insight into how the candidates are preparing and what they expect to face from the moderators. We’ll keep you updated all day on last-minute developments. 

Here’s what you need to know before Trump and Harris take the stage at 9 p.m.

Follow along live all day

You can check in on our live blog all day for the latest news, and once the candidates get rolling, we’ll have rapid-fire updates throughout the event and quick news and analysis.

Bad vibes

Harris bowed to the pressure to move her campaign from focusing on “vibes” to solidifying her policy proposals on Monday when she added a new section to her campaign site. 

Trump has always been big on vibes, regardless of whether it is the frustration of his loudest critics or the praises of his most ardent fans. He has found himself in several awkward positions, most recently on abortion and a marijuana ballot measure, as he starts getting serious about offering concrete policy proposals. 

Tonight, both candidates are going to find themselves backed into a corner on policy questions they won’t be able to hem, haw, or handshake their way out of, Congress and Campaigns Editor David Sivak and White House Reporter Naomi Lim wrote. 

“The debate, hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia, will give moderators a unique chance to zero in on specifics. Across 90 minutes, Trump and Harris will be peppered with questions on the issues that will decide the election, likely including the economy, abortion, and the border.” 

Click here to read more about the tough questions ahead.

On the issues

Tonight’s moderators only have so much time to work their way through a long list of questions voters want to hear answers to. With the combination of canned responses, laugh lines, interruptions, and clever one-liners crafted in the hope of creating a viral moment, it will be hard to get too many substantial answers. 

That’s what we’re here for. Senate Reporter Ramsey Touchberry put together a helpful primer for us to recap what Trump and Harris have said about the biggest concerns voters have. 

A short list of topics they are expected to have to weigh in on are: 

• Social Security
• Crime 
• Economy
• Immigration

You’ll have to click here to get the full look. 

Debate highlights

We already mentioned Harris’s high point in 2020, in which she was quick to cut off Pence’s attempt to, well, cut her off. 

Her experience in national debates is fairly limited, given her early exit from the 2020 contest as a presidential candidate. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t had her fair share of strong moments. 

White House Reporter Haisten Willis has captured some of her strongest moments for us here.

Trump, on the other hand, has decades of time in the limelight and nearly a decade on the political stage. His own debate performances have been a mixed bag. 

Muted microphones might have helped Trump beat Biden the first time around. He struggled in his first debate in 2020 with the then-candidate when he couldn’t stay composed and continued to talk over Biden. He learned from his mistakes and bounced back in the next debate, showing more self-control.

Trump’s caustic attitude in debates arguably set him apart in 2016, though. While the establishment field was focused on cutting each other off at the knees, the political outsider chipped away at their staid reputations with shots at Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) height and belittling then-frontrunner Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Showing no fear or favor, Haisten made sure to balance out his record of Harris’s best moments with a walk down memory lane of Trump’s as well.

Helpful background

We’ve got you covered with all the ways you can watch the main event

Make sure to read up on tonight’s moderators — David Muir and Linsey Davis

Here’s the rundown on the rules — hot mics and all

And some more news you can use about why we have these debates and what the candidates are saying about ABC

Harris has been hard at work preparing for tonight … But Trump, maybe not so much

In other news

House Republicans hammer Biden-Harris agenda that imposed $1.7 trillion in regulations on small businesses

Battleground ballots: Key changes in each swing state that could affect the November election

San Francisco Mayor London Breed in the fight for her political life

What’s happening today

Biden is hosting the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team at 11 a.m. to celebrate their NCAA win. He’ll similarly welcome the University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball team at 1:30 p.m.

Harris and Trump will face off at 9 p.m. Check out our guide for how to watch the debate here.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) following an early-morning meeting.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and Vice Chairman Ted Lieu (D-CA) will have their own press conference after the meeting at 10:45 a.m.

The Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony, celebrating the 13 American service members who lost their lives on Aug. 29, 2021, in Afghanistan at the Kabul airport, is at 11 a.m.