Leigh Tauss

Donald Trump isn't making things easy for his advisors, who now have to try and mend relations with a conservative mega-donor that Trump lashed out at over text.

That's according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who shared the information during a CNN interview Wednesday night with Kaitlan Collins.

"It's a mess that Trump world would like to not be dealing with," Haberman said....

Donald Trump’s campaign is in a tailspin this week as the Republican presidential nominee’s attacks on Kamala Harris fail to land, one Democratic strategist told Anderson Cooper Wednesday.

“It’s very clear the former president is unraveling. He’s having a complete meltdown,” Ashley Etienne, a former Joe Biden staffer and political advisor, said during a segment on Cooper’s CNN show. “Kamala Harris has got him a chokehold that is really driving him to the point of insanity, and really driving his campaign to the point of paralysis.”

Etienne points out that Trump’s rise in the polls has flatlined, while Harris’ star continues to rise. She compared it to a shop that “needs new customers.”...

J.D. Vance chided Kamala Harris over her lack of candid media interviews during a segment with Fox News host Laura Ingraham Wednesday, suggesting he doesn’t think the vice president could “deal” with world leaders.

“If she can’t face a media that’s fundamentally biased and friendly to her, how is she ever going to sit in a room with Vladimir Putin, or Xi Jinping, or any of the world leaders that you have to deal with as United States president,” Vance said.

In the same interview, Vance deflected questions from Ingraham about whether he’d “be there” to debate Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz next month on CBS. But Vance preferred to discuss Harris’ alleged press shyness. ...

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance skirted questions from Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on whether he will “be there” for an Oct. 1 debate with Walz.

“I strongly suspect we're going to be there on October 1, but we’re not going to do one of these fake debates, Laura, where they don't actually have an audience there,” Vance said. “We’re not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate.”

Vances’ response comes after Walz posted to social media "See you on October 1, JD,” on X Wednesday afternoon. The debate is scheduled to air on CBS. Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance in June, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Vance have been dodgy in committing to a debate with Democrats. Trump has, however, agreed to a September debate with Harris on ABC News. ...

Amid a meandering rant on inflation, Donald Trump lobbed an odd attack against Kamala Harris at his North Carolina rally Wednesday — even accusing a crowd member of being a “spy.”

“Oh, look they have a spy in the audience right over there,” Trump said, pointing to the crowd.

“He’s spying.”...