CHRIS CRUCIAL: Don't call it a press conference! 🤦

PLUS: The debate calendar is set.

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1. Monologuing

Donald Trump strode up to the podium at his New Jersey golf club just after 4:30 pm eastern on Thursday. He started talking. And he didn’t stop until 5:25 pm.

Fifty five minutes. Straight.

This was billed by the Trump campaign as a press conference. But, it quickly became clear what was going on: Trump was delivering his standard stump speech but this time he did so with an audience of reporters sitting there as props.

Not for nothing: Trump also invited a crowd of hangers-on and supporters to watch the speech. They cheered him on throughout the monologue.

It’s not entirely clear to me what the strategy here was/is. Having read through lots (and lots) of Trump speeches, I can tell you that there was NOTHING in his remarks that he didn’t say on Wednesday in North Carolina. Or that he hasn’t said many, many times before.

If I had to guess — the backdrop behind him was filled with food whose prices have surged in the last few years — it was to highlight the economic concerns that people still have with the Biden-Harris administration.

Which is a fine message! But, like, we have heard ALL of this stuff before!

(Sidebar: When Trump did take questions, the first few were, well, AWFUL. “Why did God save you?” “How can you make America affordable again?” Like, seriously????)

I have two basic observations on this.

First, Trump doesn’t have anything new to say. As I have said before, he has one speed. One version. There is no adjustment as his circumstances in the race — from ahead to behind — have changed. Zero. Zilch.

When he does take questions, Trump doesn’t even attempt to answer them. He just uses them as launching pads for his riffs on Fani Willis or windmills (bird killers!) or how heavy electric cars are or the cover of Time magazine or tampons. (Incredibly he mentioned ALL of these things in his speech today.)

Which brings me to the second point: Media organizations need to be very careful at getting sucked in to these performative events.

There was ZERO news in this speech. Trump simply wanted to get attention. He wanted to walk outside of one of his houses — easy peasy! — and steal the spotlight from Harris. There’s simply no there there.

Covering this as a news event then is a bit of a misnomer. This was a campaign rally, pure and simple.

The media can’t allow itself to be used as a prop, a veneer to make it look as though Trump is somehow engaging with the press when, in fact, he is simply monologuing — delivering the exact same speech he would give in front of his most rabid supporters.

Awful. And I am not getting those 90 minutes of my life back 😂😂😂

2. Mark Your Calendars!

On Thursday, vice presidential nominees JD Vance and Tim Walz agreed to debate on October 1 in New York City — the first (and likely only) gathering between the two second-in-commands before November.

CBS News will host the debate. Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan will moderate.

Vance — via X — said he wanted two VP debates, one on October 1 and another one on September 18 aired by CNN.

Walz will only participate in the CBS debate, however — a fact that Vance seized on.

“In all seriousness, if you want to be the VP of the United States, you should make your pitch directly to the American people,” he said on X. “A debate is an opportunity to take your case to voters without a teleprompter or a script. Can't imagine why anyone would say no.”

Traditionally the vice presidential nominees have debated once while the presidential candidates have debated three times.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are expected to debate twice this fall. Both have agreed to a September 10 debate on ABC. Trump has also accepted a Sept. 4 debate on Fox News and a Sept. 25 debate on NBC.

Harris’ campaign, in a statement on Thursday, said she will debate twice — once on September 10 and once in October.

“Assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10 to debate Vice President Harris, then Governor Walz will see JD Vance on October 1 and the American people will have another opportunity to see the vice president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October,” said a campaign spokesman.

It’s unclear what October debate Harris is referring to.

3. RFK Jr. is a phony

After I heard the news that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had tried to bargain a Cabinet position in exchange for his endorsement of either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, I got a little, er, heated.

I recorded a mini-rant about RFK Jr. — and his supposed “ideals” — for YouTube today. Check it out and subscribe!

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“The guy we’re running against -- what's his name? Donald Dump? — Joe Biden, giving zero effs

ONE GOOD CHART

Donald Trump likes to insist that inflation right now is worse than it has been in 100 years. Um, no. (Chart via Steve Rattner)

SONG OF THE DAY

The Japanese composer and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto died in 2023. The last concert he ever played was recorded for posterity — and released as a film called “Opus.” The soundtrack of that film just came out. It is majestic. Watch the trailer for “Opus” below. And listen to the music here.

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