Donald Trump vs Kamala Harris 1st US presidential debate: As it happened

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will take on Vice President Kamala Harris in their first presidential debate of the 2024 election.

This will be Harris's first debate of the campaign but Trump's second, after he took part in a debate against President Joe Biden, who later dropped out of the race and allowed Harris to become the nominee for the Democratic Party.

Trump, the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, brushed aside challengers from his own party, but now must face Harris after expecting to take on Biden.

With the two candidates in a "virtual tie" in key battleground states, according to the latest polls, the debate is an opportunity for both candidates to gain a lead as the race comes down to the wire, and voters go to the polls in November.

The debate will begin at 9pm Eastern Time on Sep. 10 (9am on Sep. 11, Singapore time).

This article will be updated periodically.

There is no applause, as there is not a watching crowd in the building. The candidates shake hands.

1. The first question is for Harris. "When it comes to the economy, do you believe voters are better off than four years ago?"

Harris says she grew up as a middle-class kid. She acknowledges the high cost of housing and turns to her plan for a US$50,000 deduction for small business start-ups. She then says Trump will "do as he's done before" and coins a phrase, the "Trump sales tax", which will cost families and help the rich.

Trump refutes what Harris said about his "sales tax" and says he will impose tariffs that will take in "billions and billions of dollars." He adds that there are "millions of people pouring into our country" and taking jobs from "African-Americans and Hispanics". He then accuses Harris and Biden of allowing these "dangerous" people into the country and said he created the "greatest economy in the history of our country" and will do it again.

Harris says the public will hear from the "same old tired playbook" and refers to Project 2025, a conservative plan tied to former Trump advisers.

Trump says he has "nothing to do" with Project 2025 and he hasn't read it. Trump said he had a great economy until it was hit by the pandemic and his administration did a "phenomenal job" with the pandemic.

Harris says Trump's plan will "explode the deficit" and will increase inflation, according to "16 Nobel laureates". She says Trump has "no plan for you".

Trump said his economic plan is "great" and "brilliant", and said Harris doesn't have a plan, and copied Biden's plan. He likened it to "See Spot Run", which raises Harris's eyebrows.

2. The next question is for Trump and his tariff plan. "Do you believe Americans can afford higher prices because of tariffs?"

Trump says Americans will not experience higher prices because of tariffs, and said China and other countries will pay "hundreds of billions of dollars". He asks why the Biden administration did not cut the tariffs when they took power and said that during his administration, there was "no inflation."

Harris said there was a trade deficit with China when Trump was president, and that Trump failed to challenge China on crucial areas, such as chips. She also referenced Trump's tweet thanking China President Xi Jinping for all he's done during the Covid pandemic.

Trump says Harris is a "Marxist" and that her father is a Marxist academic. He mentions "millions and millions" of people entering the country and that it will be the worst thing that can happen

3. The next question is on abortion and is for Trump.

Trump first touted the overturning of the Supreme Court decision Roe vs Wade, but later said his next administration will defend reproductive freedoms for women.

Trump says there are abortions taking place in the "ninth month" and when babies are born, "they will execute the baby." Trump says "execution after birth" is not okay with him. Trump mentions exceptions in the case of rape and incest and said the decision on abortion should be left to the individual states.

Moderator Linsey Davis says there is no state in America where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born.

Harris says "you're going to hear a bunch of lies." She says that there are "Trump abortion bans" in over 20 states and mentions cases such as a 12-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry to term. She says if she is president and Congress passes a bill on abortion rights, she will sign it and if Trump is elected, he will sign a national abortion ban.

Trump says "there she goes again" and denies that he will sign an abortion ban. The moderator asks if Trump will veto a national abortion ban and he says he "won't have to." He says Harris will not be able to get the votes in Congress for an abortion bill.

Harris said she will support reinstating the protections on Roe vs Wade, and says that "nowhere" in America are women carrying to term and asking for an abortion, and saying so is "insulting" to women.

Trump says he is a "leader" on IVF and fertilisation and clashes with Harris. "Will you allow abortions in the ninth month, eighth month, seventh month?" "Come on", Harris says. "Answer the question on whether you would veto a national abortion ban."

4. The next question is on illegal immigration and is for Harris. She is asked why the Biden/Harris administration waited until "six months before the election" to change asylum laws.

Harris says the administration and Congress negotiated a bipartisan bill on border security that would have added 1,500 more agents on the border, but Trump persuaded members of Congress to "kill the bill."

Trump says illegal immigrants are flooding the country and some have been eating dogs and cats in the city of Springfield, Ohio. He says, "They're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats, they're eating the pets of the people that live there," and adds "We'll end up being "Venezuela on steroids."

The moderator says they have reached out to the city manager who said despite viral posts, there is no evidence of such cases. Trump says he saw on tv someone claiming that their pet was taken.

Trump said that when people in his administration did a bad job, he fired them whereas Biden and Harris did not fire anyone. "When somebody does a bad job, I fire them." He said he got more votes than any Republican or sitting president in history by far.

5. The next question is on deportation and is for Trump. "How would you deport 11 million undocumented immigrants?"

Trump said the actual figure is much higher and again accuses the Biden/Harris administration of allowing criminals and terrorists to enter the U.S. He says crime in Venezuela is "way down" and this is because they are going to America.

Moderator David Muir says according to the FBI, violent crime overall is down in the U.S., but Trump says the FBI is "defrauding statements" and did not include the "worst cities."

Harris said it was rich coming from a felon and that Trump has been prosecuted for alleged national security and election interference crimes.

Trump said he is "winning" his criminal cases and they are "weaponisation" of the Justice Department and they are "fake cases."

Harris said the U.S. Supreme Court has essentially ruled that Trump would be immune from prosecution should he be elected once more. She says Trump will weaponise the Justice Department to go after his opponents. "We know the courts won't stop him, we know JD Vance won't stop him, it is up to the American people to stop him."

Despite his muted mic, Trump speaks up again and says he "took a bullet to the head" because of the things Democrats have said about him.

5. The next question is on changed positions and is for Harris. Muir asks why Harris's position on issues like fracking and assault weapons have changed.

Harris said her values have not changed and that she did not support banning fracking in 2020, and that her point is that America needs to invest in diverse sources of energy.

Trump says Harris was previously against fracking and supported "defund the police". Harris makes a comment and Trump pauses and says "Excuse me please, I'm talking now. Does that sound familiar?", a reference to Harris's 2020 debate with then-VP Mike Pence. He says Harris will ban fracking and will turn to windmills and solar.

6. The next question is on democracy and the role of the president and is for Trump. Muir asks Trump about the violent attempted insurrection of Jan. 6, 2020 and asks if there is "anything [he] regrets" about what he did on that day.

Trump says he said "peacefully and patriotically" and that while "nobody on the other side was killed", Trump supporter Ashley Babbitt was shot and killed. He then talks about illegal immigration once more and asks when are the people who "burned down Minneapolis" going to be prosecuted.

Muir presses for an answer and Trump says he had "nothing to do with that" and blamed then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the lack of security, and that it was her job.

Harris says "the president of the United States incited a violent mob" and that 140 law enforcement officers were injured, and "some died." She says this is not an isolated situation and mentions Charlottesville, and that Trump said there were "fine people on each side." For everyone watching who remember what January 6 was, we don't have to go back.

Trump says he'd like to see Harris to go to DC and "sign a bill to close up the border", and add they don't need a bill, they can "wake up" Biden at "4 o'clock in the afternoon" and order the Border Police to close the border.

7. The next question is on election results and is for Trump. Muir said Trump previously denied losing the 2020 election, but then said he "lost by a whisker." Does this mean he accepts his loss?

Trump said he said it sarcastically and maintains that he did not lose the 2020 election, and that there were many legal cases brought before the courts with regards to the election.

Muir says judges looked at the cases and ruled there was no election fraud.

Trump says the judges said "there was no standing" and said he had "facts and statistics" to back him up. He says "we have a nation in decline" and a "nation that was dying."

8. The next question is for Harris and is on political persecution. Trump said "When I win, these people will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." They said "We won't let Trump suppress the vote." Do you believe that's what's happening here?

Harris said Trump was fired by 81 million people and Trump was having trouble processing that fact. She said world leaders were "laughing" at Trump.

Trump says Hungarian leader Viktor Orban said the world needs Donald Trump and that China and Russia is afraid of him. "The most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president."

9. The next question is on the Israel-Hamas war and is for Harris. Harris said Israel has a right to defend itself, but international humanitarian law must be respected, and there has not been a ceasefire deal so far. "President Biden has not been able to break through the stalemate, how would you do it?"

Harris said Israel does have a right to defend itself, but it is also true that far too many innocent people in Gaza have been killed. "This war must end." She said there must be a ceasefire deal and the hostages must be returned safely. She says Israel must have security, and there must be a two-state solution, where Palestinians have security, self-determination and dignity.

Trump said that if he was president, it would never have started. He said that Russia did not attack Ukraine while he was president, and says that Harris "hates Israel" and that if she is elected, Israel will not be around in two years. He adds that Harris "hates the Arab population" and he will get the situation in the Middle East settled.

Harris says it is absolutely not true that she hates Israel and Trump is trying to distract from the reality. She says Trump is "weak and wrong" on foreign policy and that dictators are rooting for Trump to win again because they can manipulate him with "flattery and favours."

Trump says Putin hopes Harris wins and asks why Biden "killed the Keystone Pipeline".

We go for a commercial break

10. The next question is on Ukraine and is for Trump. He has previously claimed that he has a plan to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine in "24 hours". How exactly will he do that, and does he want Ukraine to win the war?

Trump says he wants the war to stop and wants to end the useless killing of people "by the millions". He says the casualty numbers of the war are "fake numbers". He says the America has contributed US$250 billion to Ukraine's defence while Europe only contributed US$150 billion. He says Harris and Biden "don't have the courage" to ask Europe like he did with NATO, he asked them to "pay billions and billions" of dollars and maybe that's why they don't like him as much as they like "weak people."

Trump says Putin and Zelensky respect him but don't respect Biden, and that if he is elected he will end the war even before he is inaugurated, he would do so while still president-elect. He says he would talk to both and get them together, and that the war could lead to World War III. "Don't kid yourself David, we're playing with World War III and we have a president, we don't even know where he is." Trump adds that Biden was "[thrown] out of his campaign like a dog."

Muir asks Trump again if he wants Ukraine to win the war and Trump again does not give a yes or no answer, but says it's in the U.S.'s interest to "get it done" and negotiate a deal.

Muir then asks Harris how would she do deal with Putin if elected, and would it be any different from Biden.

"Well first of all it's important to remind the former president you're not running against Joe Biden, you're running against me," Harris begins. She says Trump's plan to end the war in 24 hours is because he would just "give it up."

She says she met with Zelensky before Russia invaded, and shared with him American intelligence for Ukraine's defence. She adds that the Biden/Harris administration worked to get countries to help Ukraine defend itself, and thanks to their support, Ukraine remains free and independent. "If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now."

Harris praises the greatest military alliance in the world, NATO, and without it Putin would be sitting in Kiev, with eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland. Harris said Trump would quickly give (Poland) up for the sake of favour and what he thinks is a friendship with a dictator who would "eat [him] for lunch."

Muir gives Trump a minute to respond, and Trump says Putin would be sitting in Moscow, "much happier" and he has nuclear weapons, "nobody ever thinks about that." He says "they sent her to negotiate peace" and three days later the war started because "everything they said was weak and stupid. Trump adds, "She was the emissary, they sent her in to negotiate with Zelensky and Putin and she did, and the war started three days later and that's the kind of talent we have with her."

Muir asks Harris if she can clarify whether she ever met with Putin, Harris said she met with Zelensky "five times" and that America should always have a leader that upholds international rules and norms. She says the American people should have the right to rely on a president who will not sell them for the benefit of personal flattery, but does not say if she has met with Putin.

11. The next question is on Afghanistan and is for Harris. Muir asks if Harris bears any responsibility for how the withdrawal played out.

Harris said she agreed with Biden's decision and Americans are no longer paying "US$300 million a day" and that U.S. service members are out of active combat zones.

She said Trump negotiated "one of the weakest deals" you can imagine, bypassing the Afghani government and speaking directly to the Taliban, a terrorist organisation. She pointed out the deal involved freeing 5,000 Taliban members, and slammed Trump for inviting Taliban leaders to Camp David.

Top image from Donald Trump & Kamala Harris Facebook pages.