Trump turns to campaign events and talks to voters to prepare for Harris debate

Facing his first duel with Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump is once again ignoring traditional debate preparations and instead resorting to a similar strategy of political meetings with advisers and a series of interviews and town hall meetings.

In the week leading up to the Sept. 10 ABC News debate, Trump has been on the campaign trail, attending a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania, giving an economic speech in New York and will hold a rally in Wisconsin this weekend. His campaign said the former president also views speaking to voters as a form of debate preparation.

“Our debates and preparations are happening every day. This is called Donald Trump talking to voters,” said a Trump campaign adviser.

Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told ABC News that Trump “gives dozens of unscripted interviews and can stand with reporters for hours without a script, so he doesn't need cheat codes from his staff to participate in a debate.”

“He is reviewing policy with his advisers,” Hughes said, adding that Trump is “always willing to talk about his successful time as president.”

During a town hall meeting on Wednesday with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said he would “let [Harris] Discussion” in the debate.

“When I [President Joe] Biden, you and I had the same discussion. And I let him talk. I'll let her talk,” Trump told Hannity when asked how he would respond to Harris if she tried to provoke him.

Over the past three weeks, Trump has made nearly a dozen campaign appearances and attended only two events that the campaign called rallies – a break with the traditional campaign style.

Instead, the campaign has consistently scheduled smaller, policy-focused speeches and participated in moderated roundtable discussions with allies. At these events, Trump has worked to hone his attacks on Harris, though he has sometimes struggled to stay on topic.

Trump and his campaign have long since moved away from mock debates, saying his method has remained the same despite facing a different challenger. Rather, Trump and his campaign have focused on laying out several different policy areas between campaign stops, a similar strategy he used to approach the June debate against Biden.

Trump's outbursts and personal attacks against Biden in June were limited on the debate stage, and his campaign announced he would focus on a similar strategy against Harris. Still, Trump did not hold back on the campaign trail, pelting Harris with personal attacks.

The campaign has also hired former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump, for debate preparations. Campaign advisers noted Gabbard's performance in the debate against Harris and Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary and made headlines at the time for targeting Harris' record as a prosecutor.

In public comments over the weekend, Gabbard offered insight into the tactics she would recommend Trump use ahead of next week's debate, warning that Harris should not be “underestimated.” The former president had previously said he believed the debate with Harris would be “easier” than with Biden.

“I think Kamala Harris has a lot of experience. She should not be underestimated. President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different track records,” Gabbard said.

She argued that Trump should focus on Harris's differences, which “will provide voters with an opportunity to look at those accomplishments and compare and contrast them.”

“It's really just about sharing the experiences I had with her on the debate stage in 2020 and, frankly, helping to highlight some of the ways in which Kamala Harris has already shown that she's trying to move away from her record, move away from her positions, and how that contradicts the positions and statements that she's making now that she's the Democratic nominee,” Gabbard said.

Trump also recently met with Gabbard in Wisconsin for a town hall meeting and answered questions from voters on issues such as the economy, immigration and national security.

While the Trump campaign tries to focus on Harris' accomplishments, another attack is expected on the debate stage: the fact that Harris is currently in the White House and can now make policy decisions.

“That's one of the points I'll keep stressing. Do it. You can do it right now,” Trump said in an interview with the Daily Mail last month.

The ABC News debate will take place on Tuesday, September 10 at 9 p.m. ET. A primetime special before the debate will air at 8 p.m. ET.