Trump called Biden a “complainer” while touted his record during his first term as president and said that the “whole country is exploding because of you, because they don’t respect you.” In his statement, Biden focused on taxes and promised to bring down inflation.

Former President Donald Trump said that he deployed the National Guard to Minneapolis in 2020 during the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. “When they ripped down Portland, when they ripped down many other cities. You go to Minnesota, Minneapolis, what they’ve done there with the fires all over the city — if I didn’t bring in the National Guard, that city would have been destroyed.”  

Fact Check: This is false. Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, not Trump, deployed the Minnesota National Guard during the 2020 unrest; Walz first activated the Guard more than seven hours before Trump publicly threatened to deploy the Guard himself. Walz’s office told CNN in 2020 that the governor activated the Guard in response to requests from officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul – cities also run by Democrats.  

"If its a fair and legal election, Absolutely. But the fraud was ridiculous. There is nothing I would much rather do," Trump said.

"You are a whiner. When you lost, you appealed in courts across the country. No courts found your claims had any merit. There is no evidence of fraud. I dont think you will accept it if you lost again because you are a whiner. When you lost the first time, something snapped in you," Biden said.

“Right now, everybody making under $170,000 pay 6% of their income, of their paycheck. Millionaires pay 1%. I would not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody under $400,000. After that, I begin to make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share by increasing from 1% beyond to be able to guarantee the program for life,” he said.

"I aced cognitive tests. I would like to see him take a test," Trump on being 82 at the end of his second term if elected.

"I spent half my career being criticised for being the youngest now I am criticised for being the oldest. This guy is 3 years younger but a lot less competent. Look at everything I have achieved after what he left me," Biden said

"He is paid by China. He is a Manchurian candidate," Donald Trump jabs US President Biden.

"I never raise taxes on the middle class people. He talks about helping them. You have the largest deficit of any president in history of America." Biden attacks Trump.

"We are the most admired country in the world. No one thinks we are weak. The idea of me being the worst president -- 159 presidential historians have voted on presidents and they decided he was the worst president in the history of the US," Biden hits out at Trump

"I have dealt with politicians all my life. I have never seen anyone lie like this guy. He can look into your eyes and lie," Trump attacks Biden.

According to CNN, former President Donald Trump talked for 23 minutes and six seconds, while President Joe Biden’s time came in at roughly 18 minutes and 26 seconds.While both candidates have an equal chance to respond to questions, they can choose not to use the maximum allotted time

"He does not have any idea about the environment. He backed out of the Paris Climate Accord," Biden said.

"The Paris Climate Accord costed us trillions of dollar. It cost nothing to China, Russia and India. I ended the Paris Climate Accord because it was costing us tremendously," Trump replied.

"He caused the inflation that is killing Black and Hispanic people. I gave him a country with no inflation. All he had to do was leave it alone. The millions he has allowed to come into our borders have taken Black, Hispanic people's jobs," said Trump

"There was no inflation because the economy was flat. I have created jobs," Biden replied.

Donald Trump did not directly answer if he would support an independent Palestinian state to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “Would you support the creation of an independent Palestinian state in order to support peace in the region,” he was asked “I’d have to see,” Trump answered.

"What American president would ever say Nazis carrying swastikas were fine people. This guy has no sense of American democracy," Biden hits out at Trump over Charlottesville attacks.

"His presidency is the worst in American history. He made up the Charlottesville story," Trump replied.

"You have the morals of an alley cat." said Biden
"I did not have sex with a pornstar. That case will be appealed and judge. We had an horrible judge. Prosecutors were all democrats. He did this to damage my reputation. But the people saw the truth and my poll numbers went up. Hundreds of millions of dollars pooled in," Trump said.

"Your son is a convicted felon. Joe could be a convicted felon for everything he has ever done in office. This man is a criminal. I did nothing wrong. We had a system that is rigged," Trump to Biden

"This man is a convicted felon. He did nothing to stop what happened at Capitol Hill. Will you denounce the people who attacked the capitol?" Biden asked Trump

Donald Trump says, "Ukraine war would never have started if we had a leader".

Joe Biden said his administration worked very hard to get a bipartisan border agreement with Congress and called out Trump's actions on immigration during his presidency.

"We find ourselves in a situation where when he was president, he was taking - separating - babies from their mothers, putting them in cages, making sure they're the families were separated. That's not right way to go," Biden said.

US President Joe Biden attacked Republican Donald Trump for his role in curbing American abortion access, calling it "a terrible thing" after his Republican rival boasted of nominating Supreme Court justices that helped overturn Roe v Wade. 

"It has been a terrible thing, what you have done," Biden said, in one of his firmer critiques of his presidential predecessor as the two squared off in Atlanta in their first in-person debate of the 2024 election season. 

Former President Donald Trump said he will not block abortion medication if he was elected.

He also said he agreed with the recent Supreme Court ruling on the abortion pill.

"I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade, and moving it back to the states," he said. "Now the states are working it out."

Joe Biden says Donald Trump's role in curbing abortion access "a terrible thing".

Former President Donald Trump claimed that the job growth during President Joe Biden's presidency is all "bounceback" gains after the pandemic lockdowns that temporarily devastated the US economy.

Nearly 22 million jobs were lost under Trump in March and April 2020 when the global economy cratered on account of the pandemic. The US started regaining jobs immediately under Trump - following substantial relief and recovery measures - and added more than 12 million jobs from May 2020 through December 2020.

The recovery continued after Biden took office, with the US reaching and surpassing its pre-pandemic employment totals in June 2022.

Former President Donald Trump called President Joe Biden's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan "the most embarrassing day in the history of our country's life."

"I was getting out of Afghanistan, but we were getting out with dignity, with strength, with power," Trump said.

Inflation is "killing our country," Republican Donald Trump said in his opening salvo against US President Joe Biden at their first debate of the 2024 election cycle Thursday.

"He has not done a good job. He's done a poor job. And inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us," Trump said.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump did not shake hands when they entered the debate stage.

The two candidates last met at a debate in 2020, where they also did not shake hands due to Covid-19 protocols.

Before the debate, two longtime Biden aides said they expected Biden would "probably not" extend his hand, with one saying: "He didn't have to in 2020, why change that now?" 

Joe Biden and Donald Trump square off in critical US presidential debate

Ahead of the debate at CNN, both camps unleashed fresh attack ads, with Donald Trump's team taking out TV spots accusing Joe Biden of mismanaging the economy and encouraging illegal immigration.

Biden's Democratic Party, on the other hand, paid for five massive billboards in Atlanta trolling Trump over his legal woes.

There will be no studio audience for Joe Biden and Donald Trump debated. Microphones will also be cut out when a candidate's speaking time is over.

The first US presidential debate between President Joe Biden from the Democratic Party and his Republican challenger Donald Trump is set to begin shortly. 

With only two debates this election cycle and national polls showing the pair locked in the tightest of contests, the event at CNN headquarters in Atlanta takes on heightened significance.