Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump exchanged barbs over the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza in their first and likely only debate ahead of the November 5 election.
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.
But then a fiery debate ensued.
Harris accused Trump of being willing to abandon U.S. support for Ukraine to curry favor with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Trump a "disgrace," while Trump claimed Harris "hates" Israel -- an assertion she rejected.
Neither offered specifics on how they would seek to end each conflict, but Trump insisted that he would end the Ukraine war even before taking office if elected.
However, such a move conflicts with the doctrine historically in place that lays out that there is only one president at a time and that foreign policy decisions are reserved for the sitting president and not the president-elect. Any moves to negotiate an agreement between Putin and Zelenskiy is also a likely violation of the Logan Act, a 19th-century law that bars private citizens from conducting foreign policy.
“I want to get the war [in Ukraine] settled. I will get it settled even before I become president,” Trump said. “I want the war to stop. I want to save lives."
But Harris charged that the reason Trump would be able to end the conflict quickly “is because he would just give it up.”
The Democratic vice president said Washington’s European and NATO allies were “thankful” that Trump was not in office and talked up the “importance of the greatest military the world has known, which is NATO.”
Trump twice refused to say he believed it was in the United State’s interest for Ukraine, which bipartisan majorities in Congress have backed, to win the war.
The candidates also clashed on domestic policy, taking each other to task on key issues including the economy, immigration, and abortion.
Harris promised tax cuts aimed at the middle class and said she would push to restore a federally guaranteed right to abortion overturned by the Supreme Court two years ago. Trump said his proposed tariffs would help the United States stop being cheated by allies on trade.
The vice president 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.
Trump criticized Harris for the persistent inflation under President Joe Biden, though he overstated the level of price increases. Inflation, he said, "has been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class."
