ABC announced Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have both agreed to a presidential debate to be held Sept. 10 on the network.
The announcement came shortly after Trump proposed three presidential debates with Harris. Speaking during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said he has agreed to participate in debates next month on ABC, NBC, and Fox News, but speculated as to whether Harris would accept the terms to all three.
"The other side has to agree to the terms," Trump said. "They may or may not agree. I don't know if they're going to agree."
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Initially, President Biden and former President Trump agreed to a Sept. 10 debate to be hosted by ABC News. But once President Biden left the race and Vice President Harris became the face of the Democratic ticket, Trump's firm commitment became more uncertain.
However, at least for now, it appears Trump is rejoining the ABC debate after previously saying he would not appear on the network, citing a pending lawsuit.
"I hear that Donald Trump has finally committed to debating me on September 10," Harris said in a statement after the announcement. "I look forward to it."
The new agreement sets up what is sure to be a highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Harris, who have both accused the other in recent weeks of dodging the debate stage.
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This also comes after Trump vice presidential nominee JD Vance said earlier this week that he will debate Harris' running mate Tim Walz, but not until he is "officially the nominee" — speculating that the top of the Democratic ticket could still be changed.
"Would it shock me if the Democrats pulled another switcheroo? No, it wouldn't," Vance said. "So look, we're going to wait until they actually nominate Kamala Harris and Tim Walz before we do any debates."
This year's fall presidential debate calendar is more uncertain than previous years because the nonpartisan presidential debate commission is no longer organizing and hosting, following opposition from the campaigns. Instead, individual television networks are pitching debates directly to the campaigns.
Presidential debates, of course, aren't required.
After John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated in 1960, it was 16 years before another presidential debate occurred.
