Trump and Harris' First Debate: Tariffs, Immigration, Abortion, Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Who Won?

Trump and Harris' First Debate: Tariffs, Immigration, Abortion, Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Who Won?The first presidential debate between US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris saw a heated contest, with the two candidates clashing on a range of issues including the economy, immigration, abortion, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, setting the stage for the upcoming election.The debate, held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia with no live audience, lasted 90 minutes, interspersed with two commercial breaks

Trump and Harris' First Debate: Tariffs, Immigration, Abortion, Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Who Won?

The first presidential debate between US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris saw a heated contest, with the two candidates clashing on a range of issues including the economy, immigration, abortion, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, setting the stage for the upcoming election.

The debate, held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia with no live audience, lasted 90 minutes, interspersed with two commercial breaks. This was a crucial debate just two months before the election, and the US media considered it "90 decisive minutes" for the two candidates.

Economic Policy: Tariffs, Tax Breaks, Two Sides Clash

Right from the start, the two candidates engaged in heated debate on economic issues. Harris criticized Trump's policy of imposing high tariffs on foreign goods, arguing that it amounted to a sales tax on the middle class and touted her own plan to provide tax breaks for families, including expanding the child tax credit, providing mortgage assistance to new homebuyers, and deductions for small businesses. She also pledged to stimulate the construction of over 3 million homes and apartments within four years to address Americas growing housing shortage and lower costs.

Harris accused Trump of plunging the US into the worst unemployment since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War, and the worst public health epidemic in a century." She stated, What we (the Biden administration) have done is clean up Trumps mess. Harris claimed that mainstream economists believe her economic plan will boost economic growth, while Trump's economic plan will shrink the economy. She also pointed out that Trump initiated trade wars.

Trump countered by saying that he raised tariffs but did not cause inflation. He stated that the Biden administration had reversed this progress, "People in our country are absolutely gonna die because of what theyve done. Theyve destroyed the economy."

Immigration Issue: Border Problems, Crime Rate, Legal Charges, Targeting Each Other

Trump blamed the Biden administration for continued inflation during his term but quickly shifted to his main issueimmigration. He claimed that immigrants from "mental institutions" were crossing the US-Mexico border.

Harris responded by saying that a bipartisan immigration bill was rejected in Congress due to lobbying by Trump to the Republican Party. She accused Trump of our former president preferred to create problems rather than solve them.

Trump accused Democrats of supporting "open borders" and that immigrants were taking over American towns, with the actual number of illegal immigrants being much higher than published statistics, "Crime is going up." However, the moderator cited data to question Trump's claims about rising crime rates, with FBI data showing an average 15% decline in all major crime categories in the first quarter of 2024. Trump then claimed the statistics were "fraudulent."

Seizing the opportunity, Harris mentioned the criminal charges Trump faces, responding that these words came from the mouth of a person being prosecuted, implying that Trump was a "criminal" involved in election interference, economic crimes, etc. Harris had previously emphasized her experience as a prosecutor, having faced various criminals.

Abortion Issue: Roe v. Wade, Abortion Ban, Clear Positions

Both candidates were asked about abortion and reproductive rights, a key issue in the 2024 election. Harris stated that after Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Biden-Harris administration had taken the lead in advocating for abortion rights. As a candidate, she criticized Biden's previous support for the Hyde Amendment, which prevented US federal funds from being used for most abortions. Harris also criticized the "Trump abortion ban," saying that "Trump shouldnt tell women what to do with their bodies.

Trump stated that Democrats were too radical on this issue, but he would not sign a nationwide abortion ban. "This is a question that divides our country," Trump said, adding that the issue should be left to the states to decide.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict and Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: End of War, Two-State Solution, Israeli Security, Different Views

Harris again called for a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for prisoner releases during the debate, while expressing sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians affected by the conflict. Harris condemned the Hamas attack on southern Israel on September 7 but said that Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza "has resulted in the deaths of too many innocent Palestinians."

Trump claimed that this war would not have happened under his presidency and hinted that Israel would not exist if Harris were elected president, She hates Israel! Harris refuted his claims, pointing out that she has always supported Israel throughout her political career. Harris said, "I will always give Israel the capacity to defend itself." She also called for an end to the war, adopting a two-state solution to provide security for the Israeli people "and also provide security for the Palestinians.

When asked if he wanted Ukraine to win the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump said that he wanted the war to end as it was in America's interest, otherwise "it could lead to World War III." Trump stated that if he were elected, he would get Putin and Zelensky together to make a deal. He also complained about the amount of US aid to Ukraine.

Harris countered by saying that if Trump were president, "Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now." Harris said she believed Trump and the Republicans would abandon Ukraine to curry favor with Putin. Trump retorted that if he were president now, Putin would actually be happier, so Putin wouldn't need to invade Ukraine.

Market Analyst Perspectives: Polling Results in the Next Few Days Will Be Critical

Onu Varghese, global macro strategist at CarsonGroup, said the latest US presidential debate is unlikely to change many minds because the divide between voters is still large. The only indication is that Harris is leading in prediction markets, but the contest is still very close. There was not much substantive discussion about policy in the debate, and neither candidate advocated for economic policies that were drastically different from the current ones. Ultimately, we'll see many of the economic policies implemented next year depend on the composition of the US Senate and House of Representatives, as well as negotiations related to the extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (signed into law by former President Trump in 2017).

Gregory Faranello, head of US rates at AmerivetSecurities, said Vice President Harris did a good job in the debate, but he said he still didn't learn much new from the debate. He said, There were no big hits. We'll have to see what the polls say in the next few days, but you know this is going to be a close election, and the market is likely to be more focused on short-term monetary policy than the election."

Sunil Jagtiani, senior editor for cryptocurrency and digital payments, said Bitcoin started to decline, falling by more than 1% to below $57,000, about 30 minutes after the US presidential debate began. The largest digital asset is considered a so-called Trump trade as Trump has publicly supported the digital asset industry. The token has thus garnered attention as an asset that could provide real-time clues about who is winning the debate. Bitcoin's decline could indicate that traders believe the scales are currently tilting in Harris' favor.

This debate undoubtedly will affect the future course of the election, and polling results in the next few days will be even more intriguing. We wait and see who will win this election.