No images? Click here 26 June 2024The 46th | Nasty or nice? What to watch for in the Trump-Biden debatePresident Joe Biden faces his first televised debate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at 11am (AEST) this Friday, in a high-stakes rematch set to be watched by tens of millions of people. The debate will be critical for both campaigns as they look to move the needle in what is an extremely tight race. President Biden has reportedly spent this week prepping intensely at Camp David, with his advisors searching for ways to rattle Trump, especially following his recent felony conviction. Trump has taken a more informal tack to debate prep, asking the crowd at a campaign rally on the weekend: “How should I handle him? Should I be tough and nasty? … Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?” Trump’s approach will be critical say commentators, who note how his combative behaviour – name calling and interruptions – lost him his first debate with Biden in September 2020. President Biden’s composure will also be under the microscope, as doubts persist among voters around his age and cognitive fitness. Analysts expect President Biden to hit Trump on democracy, the January 6 riots and his record on abortion; while Trump will be looking to focus on inflation and immigration. In the end, “the entire debate may hinge on one candidate’s ability to throw the other off his game,” one commentator told NBC news. The debate will be broadcast on CNN, Sky News and all major networks at 10:55am (AEST). NEWS WRAPHomecoming for Assange
![]() "I love theater about politics. But not the other way around ... We're picking a president, not the best actor." Hillary Clinton in the NYT on the upcoming Trump-Biden debate | 25 June 2024 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Did you USSC?
BY THE NUMBERS Slow pace of GWEO investmentIn January, the Australian Government announced it had signed a $37.4 million contract between Defence and Lockheed Martin Australia to manufacture Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles domestically beginning in 2025. This is part of the proposed $16 to $21 billion Defence has proposed to spend on GWEO over the next 10 years as part of its Integrated Investment Plan. The $37.4 million is the only contract to manufacture missiles offered to any industry partner since the announcement of the acceleration of an Australian GWEO enterprise in March 2021. “Right now, Australia has spent less than a fraction of a per cent on the entire guided weapons enterprise,” says Stacie Pettyjohn, a Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). “Hopefully the government’s going to pick up the pace now that the strategy has been out … and really actually achieve what the Morrison government said they were going to do in 2021 and accelerate towards domestic production. Because all of these things with the defence industrial base take time to set up and just don’t move that quickly.” To learn more, tune in to the USSC Briefing Room podcast interview with Stacie Pettyjohn, State of play: Australia’s munitions stockpiles and the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise. Manage your email preferences | Forward this email to a friend United States Studies Centre |