Trump returns to campaign trail with rally in Florida alongside VP hopeful Marco Rubio: Live updates

Speaking by the 10th hole of the Trump National Doral Golf Club, which he described as “one of the greatest golf courses on Earth,” Donald Trump challenged Joe Biden to another presidential debate later this week.

The former president laid into Biden’s performance on June 27, and said he had scored “even according to the fake news media, the most decisive and overwhelming defeat in the history of presidential debates.”

”Even CNN said as I walked off the stage that it was one of the greatest performances they’ve ever seen. But it was sort of easy, if you want to know the truth,” he told the cheering crowds.

“But don’t feel sorry for he’s a very bad guy. He weaponized government. Remember that is a very bad guy. Don’t feel sorry for. So tonight, I’m officially offering, Joe, the chance to redeem himself in front of the entire world.

“Let’s do another debate this week so that sleepy Joe Biden can prove to everyone all over the world that he has what it takes to be president. But this time, it will be man to man, no moderators, no holds barred, just name the place, any time.”

Trump went on to challenge Biden to an 18 hole golf match, something the two men clashed over in bizarre fashion during the debate.

“It will be among the most watched sporting events in history, maybe bigger than the Ryder Cup or even the Masters,” Trump said.

“I will even give Joe Biden 10 strokes a side. 10 strokes, that’s a lot. That means 20 strokes in case you don’t play golf. I will give him 10 strokes a side and if he wins, I will give the charity of his choice, any charity that he wants, $1 million.”

Project 2025 — a blueprint for Trump’s presidency spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and more than a dozen former Trump administration officials — is essentially a wishlist for his administration with plans to expand his executive authority, replace civil servants with ideologically aligned appointees, crush abortion rights and impose an anti-immigrant agenda, among other policies.

But the former president is trying to distance himself from the plan, claiming that he knows “nothing” about it or “who is behind it,” despite its authors coming from Trump’s White House and the GOP’s close ties to the group that launched it.

Alex Woodward looks at the details.

“Joe Biden is our nominee, he is not leaving this race, he is in this race and I support him,” Ocasio-Cortez told a group of reporters outside of the Capitol.

The New York rep’s assertion comes as Democratic lawmakers scramble to find consensus on whether or not to support Biden, 81, as the presidential nominee.

Donald Trump is due to host a rally in the Miami suburb of Doral on Tuesday night following several days of relative silence, since going toe-to-toe with Joe Biden on June 27.

The rally is due to kick off at 7pm ET.

Kelly Rissman wonders where the scrutiny of Donald Trump is in comparison to that lumped on Joe Biden.

Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is not happy with the Republican Party platform for the 2024 election given its softened language regarding abortion. The platform was quickly pushed through the rules committee and will be voted at next week’s Republican National Convention.

Here’s in part what Pence had to say…

The RNC platform is a profound disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans that have always looked to the Republican Party to stand for life.

Now is not the time to surrender any ground in the fight for the right to life. The 2024 platform removed historic pro-life principles that have long been the foundation of the platform. I urge delegates attending next week’s Republican Convention to restore language to our party’s platform recognizing the sanctity of human life and affirming that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.

The updated platform also cedes this fight to the states, leaving the unborn in California and Illinois to the far-left’s extremist abortion policies. The right to life is not only a state issue; it is a moral issue, and our party must continue to speak with moral clarity and compassion about advancing the cause of life at the federal, state and local level.

He concludes by describing the GOP platform as “retreating” but says the pro-life movement “never will” and then says:

My fellow Republicans, Stand firm for Life. Restore the RNC platform’s historic commitment to the sanctity of human life. Pro-Life Americans and generations born and unborn deserve nothing less.