Welcome back to your weekly update on US politics, where North America bureau chief Jade Macmillan catches you up on the biggest developments in America as we hurtle towards election day in November.
When Donald Trump took to the stage in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention last month, many of those sitting inside the packed arena felt as though the former president was unstoppable.
He'd survived an assassination attempt, unveiled his vice-presidential pick, and been treated to a hero's welcome from an adoring crowd — all while damaging speculation about the political future of his opponent continued to swirl.
But in the weeks since Joe Biden withdrew from the race,his replacement at the top of the ticket has re-energised Democrats, giving the party new optimism about its chances of winning this year's election.
The former president has complained about Kamala Harris's ascension, accusing her party of orchestrating a "coup"to oust Biden and arguing his campaign should be compensated for the money it spent opposing the wrong candidate.
He's mocked her laugh as being that of a "crazy person",questioned her racial identity and alleged the vice-president isn't smart enough to hold a press conference, let alone run the country.
Trump's approach to Harris isn't surprising, given his long history of making personal attacks central to his campaigns.
But as Harris pulls ahead of the former president in the polls, an increasing number of Republicans are urging their nominee to change tack or risk losing in November.
'Fewer insults, more insights'
Former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy — an outspoken supporter of Trump's, even when he was running against him — is among those encouraging the Republican candidate to rein it in.
"I do think we have not actually gone after [Harris] heavily enough on her policy record, and I think that's how we're going to win this,"he told Fox News.
"The less we make it about policy, I think the worse it's going to be for us. And so that's my warning to our side. If we heed it, I think we're going to be successful."
Former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who later served as an advisor in his White House, called for "fewer insults, more insights, and that policy contrast".
And former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, another one-time rival of Trump's, argued Republicans needed to "quit whining" about Harris.
"The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes, it's not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is, it's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb," Haley said.
Trump has spread debunked claims that artificial intelligence has been used to inflate the size of the crowds turning out to hear the vice-president speak.
And he ignored pleas to keep to policy discussions, going off topic in a speech that was billed as being focused on his economic agenda.
"Today we're going to talk about one subject and then we'll start going back to the other, because we sort of love that, don't we?" he told supporters in North Carolina on Wednesday, local time.
"They say [the economy's] the most important subject, I'm not sure it is."
On Thursday, Trump appeared to exercise more discipline in his second press conference in as many weeks, at least initially.
At his golf club in New Jersey, he detailed price hikes on various food products as he stood between tables piled with groceries.
But when he was asked about the calls from within his party to dial down the attacks on Harris, he argued he was "entitled" to them.
"I don't have a lot of respect for her, I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she'll be a terrible president," he said.
"She certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird."
Trump added that while he appreciated Haley's advice, he wouldn't change the way he campaigned.
"I fought Nikki very hard. I beat her in her own state by legendary numbers," he said.
"I have to do it my way."
Harris avoids questions, looks ahead to Democratic convention
Trump continues to pressure Harris over her reluctance to engage in similar media appearances, with the vice-president mostly sticking to scripted rallies.
(Harris has suggested she'll sit down for an interview sometime this month – meaning it might not be for another couple of weeks.)
The VP campaigned alongside her boss for the first time since the switch at the top of the ticket, sharing a stage in Maryland as they announced lower prices for prescription drugs.
The pair exchanged compliments, with Biden telling the crowd that Harris would "make one hell of a president".
But the new Democratic candidate will be looking to try to differentiate herself from the current commander-in-chief, scheduling her own economic address for later this week.
And next week she'll take centre stage at the party's national convention, a four-day affair that the party hopes to use to build on Harris's early momentum.
Biden will reportedly make a speech on the opening night, in what's expected to be sold as a symbol of the Democratic transition.
Less than a month ago, he thought he'd be the one formally accepting the party's nomination.
Now he'll need to watch on as the balloons drop on the woman he's "passed the torch" to.
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One to watch: Abortion on the ballot
The presidential election will obviously dominate attention in November, but a growing number of Americans will also be asked to decide on reproductive rights at the same time.
Missouri this week joined at least half a dozen states where a question over abortion access will be added to the ballot. In most of them, voters will be asked whether to enshrine protections in their state's constitution.
Similar measures have been backed in other states where the question has already been put to the people in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to scrap the nationwide right to abortion by overturning Roe v Wade.
Florida — where Donald Trump is registered — is one of the states where voters will have their say in November.
The former president nominated three of the conservative judges who overturned Roe, but has since argued in favour of exceptions to abortion bans and urged Republicans to moderate their stance on the issue.
Trump won't say how he plans to vote on Florida's ballot measure, but suggested the result might go the same way as the states that have come before it.
"I think probably the vote will go in a little more liberal way than people thought," he said.
"But I'll be announcing that at the appropriate time."
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