Trump and Harris face off in combative debate

Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris clashed over women's birth rights, the economy, immigration and Trump's legal woes at their combative first presidential debate, each seeking a campaign-altering moment in their closely fought election. 

A former prosecutor, Harris, 59, appeared to get under the former president's skin with a series of sharp attacks, prompting a visibly angry Trump to deliver a stream of falsehood-filled retorts.  

At one point, she brought up Trump's campaign rallies, goading him by saying that people often leave early "out of exhaustion and boredom."

Trump, who has been frustrated by the size of Harris' own crowds, said, "My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics." He then pivoted to an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory claiming that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are "eating the pets" of residents. 

"Talk about extreme," Harris said, laughing.

With eight weeks to go before the November 5 election, and days until early voting starts in some states, the debate - the only one scheduled - presented both opportunities and risks for each candidate in front of a televised audience of tens of millions of voters. 

Harris also criticised Trump over his criminal conviction for covering up hush money payments to a explicit content actress as well as his other indictments and a civil judgment finding him liable for sexual assault. Trump has denied wrongdoing and again accused Harris and the Democrats of orchestrating all of the cases without evidence.

The candidates opened the debate by focusing on the economy, an issue that polls show favors Trump.

Harris attacked Trump's intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods - a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class - while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families and small businesses.

"Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression," Harris said, referring to his years as president from 2017-2021. Unemployment peaked at 14.8 per cent in April 2020 and at 6.4 per cent when he left office. It was far higher in the Great Depression.

Trump, 78, criticised Harris for the persistent inflation during the Biden administration's term, though he overstated the level of price increases. He also pivoted quickly to his top issue, immigration, claiming again without evidence that immigrants from "insane asylums" are crossing the US southern border with Mexico.

Inflation, he said, "has been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class."

The debate got under way with a surprise handshake between the two opponents, who had never met before. Harris approached Trump at his lectern, introducing herself by name, in what was the first handshake at a presidential debate since 2016.

The encounter is particularly important for Harris, with opinion polls showing that more than a quarter of likely voters feel they do not know enough about her. Harris entered the race only seven weeks ago after President Joe Biden's exit.

Harris delivered a lengthy attack on abortion limits, speaking passionately about women denied emergency care and victims of incest unable to terminate their pregnancies due to statewide bans that have proliferated since the US Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right in 2022. Three Trump appointees were in the majority of that ruling.

She also claimed Trump would support a national ban, an assertion Trump called a lie.

Trump, who has sometimes struggled with messaging on abortion, claimed falsely that Harris and Democrats support infanticide, which - as moderator Linsey Davis noted - is illegal in every state.

"As I said, you're going to hear a bunch of lies," Harris said.

Harris also sought to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that proposes expanding executive power, eliminating environmental regulations and making it illegal to ship abortion pills across state lines, among other right-wing goals.

Trump retorted that he has "nothing to do" with Project 2025, though some of his advisers were involved in its creation.