Trump says he won't debate Harris again as battleground states erupt

Donald Trump has announced he will not participate in another televised debate with his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of November's presidential election.

"THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!" the Republican candidate wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, including in his tally the earlier debate with US President Joe Biden in June and his Tuesday showdown with Harris.

The Democratic candidate's debate with Trump in their ABC News-hosted clash, was watched by 67 million people. Almost immediately, her campaign called for a second showdown in October.

The day after the debate, Trump said he "would do NBC and would do Fox, too." However, his latest statement, issued in his characteristic mix of all-caps segments, made clear he has bowed out.

"Polls clearly show that I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate," he wrote in his post.

At a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, this afternoon, Harris urged Trump to agree to another debate following their recent clash.

Back on campaign trail

A CNN snap poll of viewers said Harris performed better than Trump by 63 percent to 37, while a YouGov poll said Harris laid out a clearer plan by 43 to 32 percent.

A debate between the vice presidential running mates, Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican Senator J.D. Vance, from Ohio, is currently set to be hosted by CBS News on October 1.

Both Trump and Harris were on Thursday in the battleground states set to decide the knife-edge US election, with the Democrat hoping to ride the momentum from her dominant display in their first presidential debate.

The vice president was holding back-to-back rallies in North Carolina while Trump was in Arizona.

'More aggressive' phase

It remains unclear whether Harris's punchy performance, seen by 67 million viewers across the United States, will move the dial in a race that is still neck-and-neck with less than two months to go.

The Harris campaign said the 59-year-old was entering a "more aggressive" phase of her White House bid and was "seeking to capitalise on her decisive debate victory and build on momentum."

During a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday, Harris said that Trump should agree to another duel with her after their debate earlier this week.

“Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate, and I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what is at stake could not be more important," Harris said.

Trump was in Tucson, Arizona. The 78-year-old will focus on "our struggling economy and the rising cost of housing," his campaign said — indicating an attempt to get Trump to stick to mainstream voter concerns.

The rivals' choice of swing states for their first post-debate rallies reflects their need to win over key groups of voters.

Harris aims to fire up Black and young voters in North Carolina to back her bid to become America's first woman commander-in-chief, in a state where she has erased a six-point Trump lead over the last month.

Trump is meanwhile targeting Hispanic voters in Arizona — where Biden won by a tiny margin of around 10,000 votes in the 2020 election — as he seeks a sensational White House comeback.

The return to the swing states at the heart of the election came a day after a brief truce when Trump and Harris attended Wednesday's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Harris returns to pivotal Pennsylvania on Friday for campaign events in Johnstown and Wilkes-Barre before attending an awards dinner on Saturday with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

Trump will deliver remarks in Las Vegas on Friday on the cost of living, as he targets Nevada, yet another key swing state.