While Kamala Harris is expected to deliver her “closing argument” at a rally today in Washington DC, Donald Trump will also launch the final week of his campaign at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

The news conference, which will happen at 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT), will feature remarks an adviser has characterised as a prebuttal to Harris's speech, according to Reuters news agency.

The former president will also make an appearance at a community roundtable in south-east Pennsylvania at 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT), hosted by non-profit organisation Building America’s Future.

Later this evening, Trump will host a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at 22:00 GMT.

Pennsylvania is one of the seven battleground states in this election.

With just one week to go until the election, Americast roleplays as campaign managers for the Trump and Harris teams.

Justin Webb, Sarah Smith and Marianna Spring look at how they should be handling the last days of their campaigns - who should they be targeting, where they should go, and what key messages should be in the last stretch before polling day.

You can listen to the latest episode of Americast here on BBC Sounds.

Several states that allow early voting use dedicated ballot drop boxes.

On Monday, two of these boxes were set on fire in Vancouver, a small city in Washington state less than 10 miles (16km) from Portland in neighbouring Oregon. Hundreds of ballots were damaged.

In the south-east of Portland, an incendiary device was placed inside a drop box, according to local police, causing a small fire that damaged three ballots.

Officials said those who had deposited ballots should contact the local elections office and they hope these were “isolated incidents”.

Back in September, the US Department of Homeland Security warned that some social media users have been promoting the destruction and sabotage of the boxes ahead of the election.

While people can vote early in person or by mail in most US states, officials are not allowed to begin counting ballots until election day on 5 November.

Because of this, there is a limited amount of data available - and it is hard to make any assumptions based solely on early votes.

But what we can say is there have been more than 47 million ballots already cast a week before the election, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab, external. Some data, such as votes according to party registration, is available for some states.

As of this morning, 39.5% of those who voted early are registered Democrats and 36.3% are registered Republicans.

These numbers only apply for states where party registration is available and so cover just under half of the total.

Differing groups of voters have also historically cast their ballots at different times and in varied ways, so it is important not to over-interpret the party registration numbers.

Candidates are hosting their final campaign events throughout this week in a bid to win over key undecided voters.

Kamala Harris is delivering what her campaign have described as a "closing argument" this evening on the Ellipse in Washington DC - where Donald Trump held a rally on 6 January 2021 shortly before his supporters stormed the Capitol building.

Harris's event will be held at 20:00 local time (23:00 GMT) and is expected to bring in an audience of over 20,000 people.

Before that though, an interview with the vice-president recorded with radio host Charlamagne tha God for his Breakfast Club show will air at 11:00 GMT.

It comes days after her opponent Trump joined host Joe Rogan on his The Joe Rogan Experience for a three-hour interview.

Image source, EPA

Kamala Harris has had a small lead over Donald Trump in the national polling averages since she entered the race at the end of July and she remains ahead, but only by a small margin.

The most recent numbers suggest Harris has 48% of the vote, with Trump at 47% - which is well within the margin of error for US election polling data.

National polls are a useful guide, but they are not necessarily an accurate way to predict the result of the election - that's largely because of the US electoral college system.

Because most states in the US nearly always vote for the same party, there are just a handful where both candidates stand a chance of winning. These are the places where the election will be won and lost and are known as battleground states or swing states.

Right now the polls are very tight in the seven states considered battlegrounds in this election and neither candidate has a decisive lead in any of them, according to the polling averages. Take a look at the latest numbers below:

• Follow the latest polling data on our poll tracker

Here's where things stand on the widening row over an offensive comment made by a comedian on stage at a Donald Trump rally in New York, describing Puerto Rico as a "floating pile of garbage".

• Kamala Harris denounced the joke, which was made by Tony Hinchcliffe on Sunday, as proof of the former president's divisive tactics
• There's been backlash across the political divide, with several Republicans criticising the comment
• Trump's campaign released a rare statement distancing their candidate, saying the comment didn't reflect the views of the former president
• Trump himself though, has remained silent - despite calls from Puerto Rico's Archbishop and GOP leader for a direct apology
• In Pennsylvania - a must-win battleground state for both candidates - members of Philadelphia's 90,000-strong Puerto Rican population have expressed disbelief and anger
• Puerto Rican celebrities such as Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez, who both endorsed Harris on Sunday, have also spoken out
• A Harris campaign official told CBS, the BBC's US partner, the controversy was a political gift for Democrats as they head into the final days of a coin toss election
• The comedian has defended his material, while also accusing Democrats who criticised him like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz of having "no sense of humour"

Image source, Reuters

We are officially into the final stretch of this incredibly hard-fought race for the White House.

One week from today, tens of millions of Americans will cast their ballots and decide who the next president will be.

More than 47 million people have already voted after making up their minds about which box their cross is going in.

With the opinion polls incredibly close and the race likely to come down to seven critical swing states, the coming days will be all about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris trying to win over undecided voters in that select group of places.

You can read more about which states will decide this election and check our poll tracker for the latest indicators about where the US might be heading.

Stay tuned throughout the day for the latest news and analysis.

Image source, Reuters

Speaking in Philadelphia a short while ago, Barack Obama appealed to Muslims who are thinking about backing Donald Trump.

"If you're Muslim American and you're upset about what's happening in the Middle East, why would you put your faith in somebody who passed a Muslim Ban and repeatedly suggested that somehow you weren't part of our American community?" the former president asked the crowd.

Muslim Americans have reliably voted Democrat for years but the Biden administration's approach to the Middle East has cast doubt over that trend.

Trump has secured endorsements from some Muslim community figures, including Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck - a small suburb of Detroit, Michigan, where about 60% of the population is Muslim.

When Trump first ran for president in 2016, he proposed a ban on immigration from predominantly Muslim countries. in 2024, his campaign believes Muslim voters could hold the key which unlocks crucial swing states like Michigan.

We heard from all the key players in this election on Monday, as both campaigns make their final play for US voters. Here's what they said:

• Kamala Harris was in Michigan for three rallies. During one campaign event she told the crowd that Trump had yet to "acknowledge the pain and suffering he has caused" by helping the Supreme Court overturn the national right to abortion
• Her running mate Tim Walz campaigned in Michigan and Wisconsin, and told voters it's gonna be "all gas, no brakes" until election day on 5 November
• Donald Trump was in Georgia, where he attended a religious event with Christian pastors and held a rally. "I will protect the women of our country," he promised during a speech in Atlanta
• Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance was in Wisconsin, where he told rallygoers that Harris's rhetoric about Trump being a threat to democracy was “endangering the life” of the former president

Image source, Portland Police

Police in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, are investigating after ballots boxes in both states went up in flames on Monday.

Portland police said an incendiary device had been placed inside a ballot box to set it on fire.

In nearby Vancouver officials described finding a suspicious device next to a ballot box moments after it caught fire, according to the BBC's US partner CBS.

Both blazes broke out within roughly 30 minutes of each another, officials say.

The FBI says it "coordinating with federal, state and local partners to actively investigate the two incidents".

It is still one week until polling day but early voting is under way across the US.

Latino voters could be crucial in deciding who wins this election and Democrats know it.

In the last 24 hours, we've heard senior figures jumping on the Puerto Rico row, including former President Barack Obama.

Here's what he told a rally in Pennsylvania late on Monday evening.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Donald Trump's campaign put out a rare statement on Sunday distancing the former president from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's comment calling Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

That statement said the remark did "not reflect" Trump's view - but we've heard nothing directly from the Republican candidate himself in the hours since.

A source familiar with the Madison Square Garden rally told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that the Trump campaign vetted Hinchcliffe's list of jokes ahead of his appearance.

However, the controversial comment about Puerto Rico, as well as others aimed at Latino and black people, were improvised. They also said the campaign cut two profane jokes.

A Trump campaign adviser told CBS they are frustrated the offensive jokes, and ensuing negative attention, upstaged the massive New York rally, which was billed as Trump's chance to set out the closing message of his presidential run for voters.

Image source, EPA

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has defended Donald Trump after a comedian invited to speak at the presidential candidate's rally insulted Puerto Rico.

He said: "I understand why some people were offended by a comedian's jokes last night. But those weren’t Trump’s words.

"They were jokes by an insult comic who offends virtually everyone, all the time….. because that is what insult comedians do."

Rubio, one of the most prominent Latino politicians in the US, has backed Trump's campaign despite previously running against him for the Republican nomination.

Donald Trump didn't comment on the Puerto Rico row during his public appearances on Monday - but his running mate did.

Vice-presidential candidate JD Vance claimed he hadn't heard the joke during a rally on Monday in Wausau, Wisconsin, before saying people are too easily offended and should "take a chill pill".

You can watch his response below.

The president of the Republican Party's Puerto Rican branch says he won't vote for Donald Trump unless he personally issues an apology, after a comedian referred to the US island territory as a "floating island of garbage" at his rally.

Angel Cintron-Garcia, a former member of Puerto Rico's state legislature and the Republican party's current chairman on the island, made the comment on the Jugando Pelota Dura talk show on Monday.

Voters in Puerto Rico will be able to take part in a symbolic ballot to signal the island's preference for US president, but it is not part of official election process.

While those who live on the island can't officially vote in US president elections, there are millions of Puerto Ricans who live in the US and can vote.

Puerto Ricans make up the second-largest Hispanic voting group in the US, according to the Pew Research Center, external.

Kamala Harris and other Democrats have sought to frame the anti-Puerto Rico comment at a Trump rally as proof of the former president’s divisive tactics.

Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx, said the Madison Square Garden rally demonstrated "hatred is not a bug but a feature of Donald Trump’s campaign".

However, the backlash to the remark has spanned the political divide, with several Republicans also condemning it.

Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott said: "The joke bombed for a reason. It's not funny and it's not true." He added that "Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans".

Florida Republican congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, described it as a “racist comment” and said she was “disgusted” when she heard it.

Several Puerto Rican celebrities have also come out to reiterate their support for Harris and criticise Trump in the aftermath, including Ricky Martin and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent

The ill-chosen jokes of a comedian at one of Donald Trump’s highest profile events have turned into an embarrassing distraction for the former president.

His campaign spent much of Monday insisting that Tony Hinchcliffe's comments at Madison Square Garden - that Puerto Rico is a "floating island of garbage" - the previous night did not reflect his views, but the damage had been done.

This intervention by the Archbishop of Puerto Rico, directly urging the Republican candidate to apologise, has ensured the controversy will not go away.

Given that it is not in Trump's nature to say sorry for anything – least of all the words of someone else – the matter poses a dilemma for the former President, especially as it could cost him the votes of some Puerto Ricans living in the US.

The Archbishop of Puerto Rico has called on Trump to "personally apologise" for the inflammatory remarks a comedian made at his rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, in which he referred to the US island territory as a "floating island of garbage".

Trump's campaign sought to distance itself from Tony Hinchcliffe's comment shortly after it was made, issuing a statement saying it did "not reflect" the views of the former president.

However, Trump himself remained silent about the row on Monday, amid a flurry of cross-party criticism.

"Puerto Rico is not a floating island of garbage, Puerto Rico is a beautiful country inhabited by a beautiful and noble people," Roberto O. Gonzalez Nieves wrote in a letter posted on social media in the last few hours.

The archbishop wrote: "I enjoy a good joke however humour has its limits. It should not insult or denigrate the dignity and sacredness of people.

"I call upon you Mr Trump, to disavow these comments as reflecting in any way your personal or political viewpoints.

"It is not sufficient for your campaign to apologize. It is important that you personally apologize."

Image source, Reuters

Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, has defended the paper's decision not to endorse a presidential candidate.

For decades, the editorial board - which is separate from the journalists who work there - has backed a prospective president. With less than two weeks to go, the Post's publisher announced they would not do so this time.

Bezos, who is also CEO of Amazon, argued that publishing an endorsement - a draft of which was reported to have recommended Kamala Harris - would undermine readers' trust in the paper's integrity.

"Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election," Bezos wrote, external in the paper.

"What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence," he continued. "Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one."

The decision to breaks decades of tradition and withhold an endorsement with days to go has been met with ferocious backlash, both internally among staff and externally with its readers.

As estimated 200,000 people have cancelled their subscriptions over the controversy, according to NPR.