Within minutes - if not seconds - of the debate ending, both campaigns released statements claiming that their candidate was obviously victorious.

“Donald Trump was totally incoherent," said Harris campaign spokeswoman Jen O'Malley Dillon. "He was angry and rattled."

She said that Trump showed no regrets for the violence on Capitol Hill on 6 January 2021, spoke "countless lies", and "offered zero plan for the everyday needs of Americans".

The Trump campaign said their candidate "delivered a masterful debate performance".

Campaign representatives Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said Trump laid out "a bold vision of America" and how he "would continue to build upon the successes of his first term".

Harris, they said, "was a dark reminder of the oppressive, big government policies of Joe Biden that she wants to continue".

We've been texting with undecided voters throughout the debate.

William Hoekzema, an undecided voter from Ohio, told the BBC that he thought Trump fell into the trap Harris laid about the size of his crowds at his rallies.

"He really went haywire to the crowd comment," Hoekzema said.

Besides appreciating a handful of responses from Harris, Hoekzema said Harris had sounded "presidential".

Who won the debate?published at 03:50 British Summer Time 11 September

03:50 BST 11 September

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent, reporting from the debate

Image source, Getty Images

In a testy 90-minute debate, Harris frequently rattled the former president – goading him into extended defences of the size of his rally crowds, on his conduct during the 6 January attack on the US capitol and on the officials who served in his administration who have since become outspoken critics of his campaign.

If debates are won and lost on which candidate best takes advantage of issues where they are strong with voters - and defends or deflects on areas of weakness - Tuesday night frequently tilted in favour of the vice-president.

Time and time again as the evening progressed, Harris put Trump on the defensive, with a series of jabs and barbs that he felt compelled to address. She called him weak. She said foreign leaders were laughing at him. She said people left his rallies early out of “exhaustion and boredom”.

Harris came into this debate with clear weaknesses in the minds of many Americans, on topics like inflation, immigration and the Afghanistan withdrawal. For the most part, Trump was unable to land his rhetorical punches – and in the days ahead he might come to regret the missed opportunity.

Let's look at what Trump said in his closing statement.

He said that Harris's list of policies means nothing, because she has already been in power for nearly four years and has not accomplished all of them.

"Why hasn't she done it?" he says voters must ask.

"We can't sacrifice our country for the sake of bad vision," he added.

"We're a failing nation. We're a nation that's in serious decline. We're being laughed at all over the world," he said.

Trump adds that a third world war is likely if Harris - "the worst vice-president in the history of our country" - wins the election in November.

The debate between Trump and Harris has just finished. We will bring you some of Trump's closing statement in a moment. And there is plenty more to talk about, so stay with us.

We're now hearing closing statements from the candidates.

Harris starts by saying she and Trump have two "very different" visions for America.

She repeats a line she's used before - she is focused on the future and Trump is focused on the past.

"We're not going back," she says. "We can chart a new way forward."

She then turns to some of her policy points from the evening, including abortion rights, as well as her background as a prosecutor.

The debate is now in the final stretch. You can watch it live at the top of this page.

And stay tuned for our post-debate analysis.

Will Trump sign a national abortion ban?published at 03:41 British Summer Time 11 September

03:41 BST 11 September

Earlier in the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump “will sign a national abortion ban” and linked the measure to Project 2025 document.

This is misleading as Trump has denied that he would sign a national ban if he is elected president. Instead, he’s said that he would leave the decision up to states to decide.

Project 2025 is a document published by the right-wing Heritage Foundation outlining a list of policy proposals that they believe a Trump presidency should implement.

It doesn’t propose a national ban either, but it does recommend limiting abortion access.

Harris has repeatedly tried to link Project 2025 to Trump and has referred to it as his agenda - but Trump has distanced himself from the document, saying: “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it.”

However, according to an investigation by CNN, at least 140 former Trump administration officials have been involved in the Project’s work.

Are millions of people coming into the US from prisons and insane asylums?published at 03:36 British Summer Time 11 September

03:36 BST 11 September

Earlier in the debate, Trump said: “We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums”.

There is no data to back up this claim, which looks like a big exaggeration.

There have been about 10 million encounters with migrants crossing over the US border since January 2021. These figures don’t include people who may have evaded law enforcement.

There are no publicly available figures on how many of them have served time in prison or have come from mental institutions but there is some data on how many have previous criminal convictions.

Of the 1.4 million apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally so far this financial year (to September 2024) and where the Border Patrol was able to check against law enforcement databases - about 14,700 people, external had previous criminal convictions.

That's equivalent to roughly 1% of all border apprehensions in this period and doesn’t amount to the “millions” Trump is claiming.

Courtney Subramanian

It's the second ad break now, and we are nearing the end of the debate.

Prior to the break, Trump was again trying to remind viewers that Harris is linked to Biden.

"Remember this: she is Biden," he says.

But the vice-president rebutted by definitively declaring she is not Joe Biden, instead casting herself as a candidate who offers a "new generation of leadership for our country".

"One who believes in what is possible, one who brings a sense of optimism," she added.

Biden may no longer be in the race, but Trump is still trying to make the race about him.

Trump has been asked about his long-running vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare.

Obamacare, Trump responded, is "not very good today".

"If we come up with something and we are working on things," he added. "We're going to replace it."

Trump laid the blame on a failure to repeal Obamacare on the Democrats, who said were "unanimous" and "wouldn't vote to change it".

He insisted that he "did the right thing" and that he will continue to examine "concepts and options", although he provided few details.

"If we can come up with a plan that's going to cost our people, our population, less money and be better healthcare than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it," he said. "Until then, I'd run it as good as it can be run."

Harris says that Trump has repeatedly lied about her record on fracking and gun policy.

"Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away," Harris says.

In 2019, a campaign aide to Harris revealed that she owns a handgun.

"I am a gun owner," Harris said while campaigning in Iowa, "and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety".

Harris has repeated the phrase "I have a plan" for the economy.

She says that Americans want a conversation about solutions, "instead of a conversation that's constantly about belittling and name calling".

"Let's turn the page," she says with an exasperated tone.

Trump responds angrily: "She has a plan to defund the police. She has a plan to confiscate everyone's guns. She has a plan to ban fracking in Pennsylvania and everywhere else."

The two candidates then talk over each other for several seconds as the moderators insist that they move on.

The moderators asked Trump about one of his most controversial statements of the election cycle: his false claim in July that Harris only recently began to identify as a black woman.

Why did he think it was appropriate to weigh in on Harris' racial identity? the moderator asks.

Trump replies, "I don't care what she is".

"I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people," Harris responds.

Sam Cabral
Reporting from Washington, DC

“He won’t look at her!” the man at the table next to me just exclaimed.

It’s true, his friend agrees, and Kamala Harris "keeps baiting him".

I'm watching tonight's debate a few blocks from the US Capitol at DC's Fight Club bar - and the first rule of this fight club is fill out your presidential debate bingo cards.

The bar is full, the conversation is flowing and at least two people in here have already filled their bingo cards and won free shots.

Washington DC is one of the most liberal enclaves in the country and the crowd here clearly favours Harris over Donald Trump.

Courtney Subramanian

Trump had hoped to link Harris to Biden's foreign policy, particularly the administration's unpopular withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But she instead tried to turn it on Trump by focusing on the agreement he struck with the Taliban while he was president.

Harris has burnished her foreign policy portfolio over the last three years and the focus on foreign policy has allowed her to highlight some of her work on the world stage, including meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference in the days before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Image source, Gett

After Harris says that Trump invited the Taliban to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Trump responds.

"I got involved with the Taliban because the Taliban was doing the killing," Trump says.

He says the deal that led to the US withdrawal "was a good deal". He says if he was still president during the pull out, no American citizens or military equipment would be left behind.

"They blew it," he says of the Biden administration.

He also shares a story about a man named "Abdul" who he describes as the "head of the Taliban". At the time, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was fourth-in-command of the Taliban. He is currently the acting first deputy prime minister of Afghanistan.

"And I told Abdul, 'don't do it anymore. You do it anymore you're gonna have problems," Trump says he told him.

He adds that he showed the man a photo of his home, and that led to a reduction in attacks.

Harris is now being asked about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in 2021 has been criticised - mostly by Republicans - as an embarrassment to US military and an avoidable failure. Thirteen US service members died in the incident.

She says she agreed with Biden's commitment to get the US out of the country.

But she adds that it's important to remember how the withdrawal came to be.

"Donald Trump as president negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine," she says, referencing his negotiations with the Taliban.

The debate is still focused on the role of the US in the global community.

Trump criticises Biden as an absent president, and Harris hits back.

"You're not running against Biden, you're running against me," she says.

Turning back to the question of Ukraine, she says she has a strong relationship with Ukraine's president.

"Our Nato allies are so thankful that you are no longer president," Harris says to Trump.

"Otherwise Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe," she says.

She says that Putin "is a dictator who will eat you for lunch".

Trump then calls Harris "the worst vice-president in history" and claims that she failed to prevent war by negotiating between Ukraine and Russia before the invasion.

Courtney Subramanian

For those just tuning in, the debate has turned extremely personal.

Harris has gone after Trump on his pending indictments and felony convictions in New York and 2020 election loss denial. At one point, she sought to undermine him by telling Trump that world and military leaders told her he was a "disgrace".

Trump, meanwhile, said Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed Harris and that Biden hated her.

"He hates her. He can't stand her," he said.