Donald Trump’s campaign reels after poor debate performance

Good morning. Today we’re covering:

• A Chinese general’s upcoming visit to the US

• Huawei’s new $2,800 trifold phone

• How developing countries are countering Beijing’s export boom

But we begin in the US, where Donald Trump’s campaign is reeling after his poor performance in the debate against Kamala Harris exasperated Republican allies, who thought he had been unprepared and outplayed by the vice-president. 

The televised face-off in Philadelphia on Tuesday marked a new campaign inflection point that could hurt Trump, who is now battling to regain his footing with less than two months left before the November 5 US presidential election.

“I think it was a missed opportunity to knock her out . . . She was losing momentum. I think it probably stabilised her,” a top Trump donor told the FT.

Harris put Trump on the defensive for much of the 90-minute debate, tearing into him over issues from abortion to his reputation with foreign leaders.

The former president appeared rattled at several points, including when Harris questioned the size of the crowds at his campaign rallies. Trump railed about migrants in response, rehashing an internet conspiracy theory that some were stealing people’s pets to eat them.

Although Republican strategists and lawmakers did not think Trump’s uneven performance had crippled his campaign, many conceded the former president had struggled and that his re-election bid now looked more tenuous. Read more of the reaction to Trump’s poor showing.

• More US news: US inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in August, setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates gradually at its meeting next week.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: India publishes inflation data for August.

• Rate decision: Investors are confident of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank and will be looking closely for any clues that it will lower rates again in October.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: A top Chinese military commander will visit US Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii next week as the two militaries step up engagement. General Wu Yanan, the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre commander, will attend an annual Indo-Pacific chiefs of defence conference hosted by US Admiral Samuel Paparo, according to people familiar with the plans.

2. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on the EU to “reconsider” its planned tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The comments, delivered during Sánchez’s second trip to China in 18 months, represented a significant intervention in the trade dispute between China and the EU.

3. A Chinese bank was ordered to wire authorities Rmb78mn ($11mn) after its star dealmaker went missing, according to a company filing. China Renaissance was one of the country’s leading tech sector investment banks until the disappearance of its founder Bao Fan last year. Beijing’s opaque actions towards the bank have left its in-house auditors struggling with how to account for the large payment.

4. OpenAI is aiming to raise at least $5bn at a valuation of $150bn from investors including Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and Thrive Capital. The deal could almost double the artificial intelligence start-up’s valuation as it seeks more investment to fund its ambitious plans to develop AI models capable of outperforming human intelligence.

• More tech news: A $2,800 smartphone from Huawei with a trifold screen has passed 5mn in pre-orders during its launch week.

5. The Maldives will test the global market for Islamic finance in the coming weeks, as the debt-burdened archipelago nation hunts for a bailout that will prevent it becoming the first country to default on a key form of sharia-compliant debt.

News in-depth

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday walked back a landmark proposal that sought to put more stringent rules on major US lenders after a fierce opposition campaign from the banking lobby and a bipartisan group of US lawmakers. Here’s the inside story of how Wall Street won “capitulation” from the US central bank on the capital requirements rule

We’re also reading . . . 

• Carmakers in China: No one predicted just how fast the country’s own industry would develop in the age of electric vehicles, writes Edward White.

• Easter Island: The Pacific islanders who carved the haunting stone statues of Rapa Nui appear to have avoided “ecological suicide”, according to research that undermines a popular theory about their fate.

• Middle East roulette: The chances of a ceasefire deal are rapidly diminishing as everyone plays for time and the world waits for the US election, writes Kim Ghattas.

Map of the day

China is facing a wave of tariffs in developing countries aimed at countering its export boom, complicating Beijing’s quest to cultivate markets outside an increasingly hostile west. However, emerging markets are also using levies to ensure China and its biggest electric-car maker BYD build manufacturing plants within their borders.

Take a break from the news

The men’s grooming sector is booming. In recent years, there have been a slew of dedicated brands entering the market, including Harry Styles’ Pleasing, Dwayne Johnson’s Papatui and Jake Paul’s W. Do men really need so many specialised grooming brands? Teo van den Broeke investigates.

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith