Former President Donald Trump and his allies have announced counterprogramming for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, complete with theming for each day as he attempts to wrench away attention from Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party.

What You Need To Know

  • Former President Donald Trump and his allies have announced counterprogramming for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

  • Trump will attempt to undercut the Democratic celebration with a jam-packed schedule that includes daily events in battleground states

  • When Trump has held events billed as policy speeches throughout the campaign, they have often resembled his usual, rambling rally remarks, including as recently as Saturday, when a speech billed on the economy in Pennsylvania delved into non-sequiturs and personal attacks. Trump not once, but twice, asserted that he was better looking than the vice president

  • The former president and Republican nominee has appeared at times in denial about the reality that Harris, and not President Joe Biden, is now his rival

Trump will attempt to undercut the Democratic celebration with a jam-packed schedule that includes daily events in battleground states tied to subjects where Republicans think they hold an advantage. It's his busiest campaign week since the winter, when he faced challengers in the Republican primary.

Some of the daily themes are the same ones they utilized during the Republican National Convention, though they dropped the word "once" from each theme (ie: "Make America Safe Once Again" during Day 2 of the RNC is now "Make America Safe Again" on Tuesday, Day 2 of the DNC.), culminating with Trump's now-infamous "Make America Great Again" slogan on Friday, after the Democratic convention has wrapped. Each day will also see Trump's campaign host a press conference in Chicago, just like the Democrats did on each day of the RNC.

Here's what Trump has planned this week:

Monday, Aug. 19: "Make America Wealthy Again"

  • Trump to host an event in York, Pa.
  • Ohio Sen. JD Vance hosts an event in Philadelphia

Tuesday, Aug. 20: "Make America Safe Again"

  • Trump to host an event in Detroit
  • Vance to host an event in Kenosha, Wisc.

Wednesday, Aug. 21: "Make America Strong Again"

  • Trump, Vance to host an event in Asheboro, N.C.

Thursday, Aug. 22: "Make America Secure Again"

  • Trump to host an event in Montezuma Pass, Ariz.
  • Vance to host an event in Valdosta, Ga.

Friday, Aug. 23: "Make America Great Again"

  • Trump to host event in Glendale, Ariz.

When Trump has held events billed as policy speeches throughout the campaign, they have often resembled his usual, rambling rally remarks, including as recently as Saturday, when a speech billed on the economy in Pennsylvania delved into non-sequiturs and personal attacks. Trump not once, but twice, asserted that he was better looking than the vice president.

And as has long been the case during his political career, Trump has undercut his own message with outbursts and attacks that drown out anything else.

The former president and Republican nominee has appeared at times in denial about the reality that Harris, and not President Joe Biden, is now his rival. He's launched deeply personal attacks, lied about her crowds by claiming images of them were generated by AI, and played on racist tropes by questioning her racial identity as she runs to become the country’s first Black female and first South Asian president.

The outbursts have alarmed allies, who worry Trump is damaging his chance in what they believe is an eminently winnable race. Privately and publicly, they have urged him to focus on policy instead of personality, and to do more to broaden his appeal with swing voters as they grow more nervous about Harris’ competitiveness.

“If you have a policy debate for president, he wins," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “Donald Trump the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election.”

Graham said he wanted Trump to focus on what he would do on the economy and the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing, “Policy is the key to the White House.” Some people at his rallies agreed with that advice.

“He needs to quit talking about Biden other than Harris piggybacking on those policies,” said Kory Jeno, a 53-year-old from Swannanoa, North Carolina, who was waiting to see Trump speak last week in nearby Asheville. “He needs to keep the conversation on the issues and what he’s going to do for Americans instead of running off on tangents where he’s just bashing her and that sort of thing.”

Graham was hardly alone in his concern; fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley, the former U.N. Ambassador and GOP primary rival-turned-supporter, said that Trump's campaign "is not going to win talking about crowd sizes," nor will it emerge victorious if it focuses on "what race Kamala Harris is" or about her intelligence.

She suggested Trump instead make entreaties to appeal to suburban women, college-educated voters, independents, moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats instead of his base.

At a press conference at his New Jersey resort last week, Trump didn't take Haley's advice when asked separately whether he needed to run a more disciplined campaign and pivot away from personal attacks against Harris.

“I’m angry at her,” Trump said. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. 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.”

Later that day, Trump gave new fodder to Democrats in the form of saying that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian award, is "much better" than the Medal of Honor, the nation's most prestigious military honor. The comment drew outrage from Harris' campaign, as well as other Democrats, veterans and veteran advocacy groups. It somewhat muddies the attack line from Trump and Republicans about Harris running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's military record.

But for now, Trump's campaign is resisting the idea of a reset, attempting to argue that Harris' strong performance in polling is temporary and a momentary "honeymoon."

“President Trump has continued to speak about sky-high inflation that has crushed American families, an out-of-control border that threatens every community, and rampant crime while Kamala Harris continues to hide from the press,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, adding that Trump “will be barnstorming battleground states all across the country to prosecute the case against a weak, failed and dangerously liberal Kamala Harris.”