Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, yesterday ce they faced each other in the first pre-election debate which primarily started with handshakes and later ended in fierce juicy attacks.

The exchange of verbal blows was exceptional, about 90 minutes attacks from both sides, with no clear winner. However, the two candidates for president ce clashed on several topics that affect American voters, and those that attracted the most attention were the topics around the economy, immigration, reproductive rights as and foreign policy.

In the presidential debate, both candidates ce tried to make their case for victory in the November elections.

The economy, the high cost of living – a leading theme in the debate

High prices remain the main concern for many American voters, write the American media analyzing the points in the debate of the two presidential candidates.

Relatively early on, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris attacked Trump's plan to impose high tariffs on foreign goods, a proposal she likened to a "tax on the middle class." At the same time, he unveiled his plan for tax breaks for families and small businesses.

On the other hand, Donald Trump criticized Harris for the constant inflation during the term of the Biden administration, although in his own style he exaggerated the level of rising prices in the country.

Harris addressed Trump's policies on the economy, saying 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists have criticized his program and believe it would cause a recession by next year if implemented.

"Donald Trump has no plan for you. Because he's more interested in protecting himself than taking care of you,” Harris said.

Trump replied that economics professors think his plan is brilliant and a good plan.

"We have the worst inflation in the history of our nation," the Republican nominee said.

Under Biden, inflation peaked at 9,1 percent in June 2022. He pointed out that US inflation was last above 9% in 1981, but according to him it is now much higher than at any other time in US history. As the media notes from mid-2022, inflation falls significantly to 3,3% in May 2024.

Illegal migration is a problem for Trump, for Kamala a challenge to improve policies on this issue

Trump, meanwhile, quickly turned to his main topic of migrants, claiming without evidence that "crazy" immigrants are crossing the US's southern border with Mexico. During the debate, Donald Trump made an unverified claim that illegal immigrants ate pets in Springfield, Ohio.

"They eat the dogs, they eat the pets of the people who live there," he said.

The moderator of the debate from "ABC" television said that the media tried to confirm the information, but failed. He then referred a spokesman for the Springfield authorities, who said no evidence had been found for the claim.

Another of Trump's favorite claims on the subject was that illegal border crossings had increased during the Biden presidency.

The statistics are on his side here, American media note. The number of people crossing the border from South and Central America has reached record highs in the past few years. So in 2022 and 2023, the illegal crossings of migrants are over 2 million.

On this issue, Kamala Harris emphasized that the administration should improve policies towards migration in the country.

Differences on the issues of Ukraine, Gaza, NATO 

Kamala Harris referring ce of US foreign policy to a question related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas gave a measured response, pledging to continue to support Israel's right to self-defense as long as ce calls for a ceasefire, return of hostages taken by Hamas and a two-state solution.

"Israel has the right to ce dams, and as makes it important because it is also true that ce too many innocent Palestinians killed,” she said.

Tramp ce focused on Harris, claiming she "hates Israel" and "hates the Arab population," without saying as will ce tried to end the conflict.

Then he didn't answer the moderators' question if he wanted Ukraine to win a war with Russia despite being asked directly several times, he just said "I want this war to stop".

He claimed he could get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sit down and negotiate an end to the war.

On the other hand, Kamala Harris pointed out that NATO allies ce grateful why Trump is not president. Otherwise, Putin would be sitting in Kiev with an eye on the rest of Europe. Putin is a dictator who will eat you for breakfast," said Kamala Harris.

"The world leaders ce laugh at Donald Trump. I talked to the military leaders and they told me you are a disgrace," Harris commented, using a word Trump often uses to describe his opponents.

Trump too ce attempted to link Kamala Harris to Joe Biden's foreign policy, particularly the US administration's unpopular withdrawal from Afghanistan.

– I joined the negotiations with the Taliban because they were committing murders. The deal that came out of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is a good deal. If I were president, there would be no American citizens or military equipment left there, Trump said.

The topic of abortion is a strong point for Harris in the showdown

Otherwise, Harris, who appeared nervous at first, quickly found her edge when the topic turned to abortion, her forte, accusing Trump of taking away women's liberties. So in the debate, Trump supported the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn a nearly 50-year-old federal law allowing abortions, saying states should decide whether and under what conditions.

From there, Harris succeeded in what appeared to be one of her main tasks: encouraging her opponent to engage in unexamined gossip about himself and the past, allowing him to accuse him of not being focused on the American voter.

Harris had some memorable "bumps" as he tried to turn Trump's alleged strengths into weaknesses.

Otherwise, after yesterday's televised confrontation, "Fox News" announced that it proposed holding a second presidential debate in October, adding that letters were sent to the candidates' campaigns before their debate last night.

The next presidential debate has not been scheduled, while the debate between vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Waltz will take place on October 1.