It’s Thursday. Happy Friday eve! There’s not too much on the docket as everyone gears up for the Democratic National Convention next week, but here’s what’s happening today:

• Biden and Harris are delivering remarks on the economy in Maryland, one day after a key economic indicator showed inflation slowing.
• Trump is holding a press conference — his second in one week — at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
• Vance and Walz have committed to debate each other.

I’m Lauren Sforza, filling in for Cate, with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  

Vice presidential candidates Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) have agreed to debate each other on Oct. 1. Vance said on the social platform X that he had accepted the invitation for the CBS News debate after Walz did the same Wednesday night (The Hill).

Vance and Walz have expressed eagerness to debate the other after Vice President Harris announced the Minnesota governor as her running mate last week. Vance wrote on X in his statement accepting the invitation that the “American people deserve as many debates as possible.”

Read between the lines: Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, has been relentlessly attacking Walz over his military record in recent days. Walz retired from the Army National Guard after serving 24 years, but Vance keeps targeting him for leaving before his unit was deployed to Iraq.

Veterans condemn military criticisms of Walz: More than 1,000 veterans and military family members took aim at former President Trump and Vance for bashing Walz’s military service in an open letter, calling the attacks “disrespectful and deeply disappointing” (The Hill).

Vance spoke to voters in New Kensington, Pa., Thursday morning, where he continued to go after Walz’s military record. He also brought up several of his allies to criticize Walz, Harris and the Biden administration.

• ‘How JD Vance’s upbringing shaped his sharp-edged rhetoric about families’: NBC News
• ‘Tim Walz’s Bumpy Road to Gun Control’: The New York Times
• ‘Bipartisan push for family-friendly policies gains momentum’: Politico
• ‘Tim Walz and the Debate Over 24 Hours of Minneapolis Protests’: The Wall Street Journal

Former President Trump has invited the press to his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., this afternoon at 4:30, when he will give his second press conference in the last week.

What should we expect?: He is likely to echo his past comments attacking Vice President Harris and highlight her sparse comments to reporters. Harris has not publicly sat down for an interview since launching her campaign last month, but she said that she wants to do a full interview by the end of August.

His press conference comes as he attempts to combat Harris’s surge in the polls. His solution to the problem? More of Trump, according to The Hill’s Brett Samuels.

Trump also held a press conference last Thursday. In case you missed it, he rambled on for more than an hour, at times outright lying about things like crowd sizes and seeking to paint his opponents as radicals, as he attempted to refocus the national spotlight on himself.

Catch up quick: Read five takeaways from last week’s conference, via The Hill’s Niall Stanage.

He is likely to rehash those attacks today on Harris, who has closed the gap in national and swing-state polls in recent weeks.

Republican strategist Karl Rove wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, arguing that Trump must deliver “clear, precise lines of attack” instead of “his usual, off-color riffing.”

“Even if Mr. Trump’s ads are good, his most outrageous comments will dominate the news cycle,” Rove wrote.

Politico’s Playbook spoke with conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who said Trump has been “receptive” to advice to focus on Harris’s policy stances.

A new poll from Pew Research Center found Harris and Trump virtually tied in a new national poll, while support for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped into the single digits.

The rundown: Harris would receive 46 percent of support from registered voters, Trump would receive 45 percent and Kennedy would bring in just 7 percent of the vote if the election was held today. Read more on the poll from The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro.

Related: RFK Jr. sought a meeting with Harris to discuss the possibility of him getting a Cabinet position if she is elected, a Democratic official confirmed to The Hill. The independent candidate later wrote on social platform X that he had “no plans” to endorse Harris. The Hill’s Alex Gangitano has the latest here.

In other news: The Associated Press-NORC Research Center released a survey this week that found Democrats trust Harris more on climate change than they trusted President Biden on the issue. The Hill has the write-up, here.

President Biden and Vice President Harris are appearing together at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland to deliver remarks on the economy.

Their joint appearance comes just one day after the Labor Department reported the consumer price index (CPI) slowed to a 2.9 percent annual increase in July, marking the first time annual inflation dipped below 3 percent since March 2021 (The Hill).

Related: Retail sales jumped 1 percent in July, according to new data from the Commerce Department on Thursday (The Wall Street Journal). Meanwhile, people applying for unemployment benefits also dropped by 7,000 this week (The Hill).

ICYMI: More voters say they trust Harris to handle the economy than Trump, according to a poll released Monday by the Financial Times and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. (The Hill)

Trump’s attempts to focus on the economy during a speech in Asheville, N.C., on Wednesday fell short as he reverted to his familiar stump speech on immigration and attacked Harris over her laugh and intelligence.

He tied Harris to Biden’s economic policies and blamed Harris for high inflation.

“Does anyone here feel richer under Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe than you were during the Trump administration? Is anything less expensive under Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe?” Trump asked the crowd.

Read more on his North Carolina rally from The Hill’s Brett Samuels.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported Thursday that more than 40,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the Israel-Hamas war since the its started in October, The Associated Press reported. Side note: The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

The new death toll comes as the war enters its 11th month, with international leaders still pushing for a temporary cease-fire deal to release the hostages being held by Hamas.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned from her post Wednesday, she announced in a letter to the school community.

Her resignation came after Columbia University’s campus was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year following student encampments, a building occupation and hundreds of arrests, all in protest of the Israel-Hamas war. The Hill’s Yash Roy breaks down the news, here.

GOP Reactions: Republicans celebrated the resignation of Shafik on Wednesday, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying he hopes it “serves as an example to university administrators across the country that tolerating or protecting antisemites is unacceptable and will have consequences.”

The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro sums up GOP reactions to the news, here.

🍋 Celebrate: Today is National Lemon Meringue Pie Day!

👨‍🍳 ‘Sometimes you need to eat an entire cucumber’: I don’t know about you, but my social media feed has been filled with TikTok star Logan Moffitt sharing his cucumber salad recipes. The New York Times talked to the content creator about all his fun recipes and his rise to internet fame.

🎤 Are you ready for it?: Taylor Swift returns to London’s Wembley Stadium today for her final five shows of the European leg of “The Eras Tour.” Her return to the stage comes after her shows were canceled in Vienna over a thwarted terrorist plot. Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West’s live updates for USA Today, here.

The House and Senate are out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are traveling to Maryland. (all times Eastern)

• 1:30 p.m.: President Biden and Vice President Harris deliver remarks on the progress they are making to lower costs, at Prince George’s County Community College in Maryland.
• 4:30 p.m.: Former President Trump will hold a press conference from his residence in Bedminster, N.J.

Because you made it this far, please watch this dog chase his dreams.

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