Trump and Biden agree to mic muting for first debate as ex-president appeals to Black voters in Detroit : Live Updates

Donald Trump spoke at a meeting of major CEOs as part of his return to Washington, DC on Thursday as the assumed Republican candidate for president.

Several CEOs “said that [Trump] was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought [and] was all over the map,” Sorkin said on Friday morning edition of Squawk Box.

He added that the same CEOs struck by Trump’s lack of focus “walked into the meeting being Trump supporter-ish or thinking that they might be leaning that direction”.

“These were people who I think might have been actually predisposed to [Trump, but] actually walked out of the room less predisposed” to him, Sorkin said.

One CEO who spoke to CNBC said “Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about” and that he did not explain any of his policy proposals.

Sorkin told MSNBC’s Morning Joe later on Friday morning that at one point Trump discussed his plan to bring the corporate tax rate down from 21 per cent to 20 per cent … and was asked about why he had chosen that number.

“And he said, ‘Well, it’s a round number,” Sorkin reported. “That unto itself had a number of CEOs shaking their heads.”

Trump was reportedly subdued in the meeting and there was no noticeable applause from attendees according to two people. One speculated that a low-key approach may have been an attempt to make the event feel “more like a business meeting than a speech”.

CNBC reached out to the Trump campaign but did not receive any comment.

While Trump can be equally vicious to rivals and Republicans who cross him, he is frequently complimentary of his children — sometimes too complimentary — and lauded Barron’s athleticism in the interview.

Graig Graziosi has the story:

CNN has released the final details of the upcoming and highly anticipated live debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, due to take place in two weeks time.

The debate will be hosted by network anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in Atlanta on June 27.

It will mark the first in-person showdown of the 2024 campaign between the president and his predecessor. Both men have accepted the network’s invitation and agreed to accept the rules and format of the debate, CNN said.

The 90-minute debate will include two commercial breaks and campaign staff may not interact with their candidate during that time.

Both candidates have agreed to appear at a uniform podium, and their podium positions will be determined by a coin flip.

Microphones will be muted throughout the debate except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. While no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on the stage, candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

Unlike previous events, there will be no studio audience, something that Trump is known to have played off heavily in the past.

Addressing supporters at a church in Detroit, Donald Trump claimed his administration had done more for the Black population that “any president since Abraham Lincoln.”

“We’ve done more for and I say this, I say it proudly, more for the black population than any president since Abraham Lincoln,” he said, to cheers.

“That’s a big statement. And crooked Joe Biden has done nothing for you except talk. It’s only talk. It’s all talk. He does nothing.

“He gets lost, and he’s in Europe, he’s walking around, he doesn’t know where the hell he is… and he’s supposed to help Detroit? I don’t think so.”

CNN has released the final details of the upcoming and highly anticipated live debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, due to take place in two weeks time.

The debate will be hosted by network anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in Atlanta on June 27.

It will mark the first in-person showdown of the 2024 campaign between the president and his predecessor. Both men have accepted the network’s invitation and agreed to accept the rules and format of the debate, CNN said.

The 90-minute debate will include two commercial breaks and campaign staff may not interact with their candidate during that time.

Both candidates have agreed to appear at a uniform podium, and their podium positions will be determined by a coin flip.

Microphones will be muted throughout the debate except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. While no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on the stage, candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

Unlike previous events, there will be no studio audience, something that Trump is known to have played off heavily in the past.

Former world heavyweight boxing champion turned convicted rapist Mike Tyson is defending former President Donald Trump by suggesting that the ex-president’s experience with the legal system is akin to how Black people are treated in America.

The ex-professional fighter known as Iron Mike made the head-turning comments in an interview with Semafor for a story examining the coterie of Black celebrities from the 1980s and 1990s who have long traveled in the felonious ex-president’s social circle and are supporting him as he looks to return to the White House following this year’s presidential election.

Trump himself has drawn criticism from some Black politicians and leaders by suggesting that his status as a convicted felon would endear him to Black Americans.

One of the front runners to be Donald Trump’s running mate is now “extremely unlikley” to be selected as his vice president candidate, according to a report. Michelle Del Rey examines who the individual is, and why their chances might be in trouble…