“The most important election of our lifetimes” is a political cliché, but the 2024 presidential election is certainly one of them. Across a wide array of issues affecting Americans’ daily lives and the shape of the country’s political system, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump have sharply different records and plans.
Here is what Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump have done and want to do on some of the most pressing issues, starting with abortion, climate, democracy, the economy, immigration and Israel and Gaza. Check back for more topics in the coming weeks.
Abortion
Kamala Harris: Ms. Harris supports a federal right to abortion and wants to prevent states from banning the procedure before fetal viability. She has regularly spoken out in favor of abortion rights, including making the first official visit to an abortion clinic by a president or a vice president.
Donald Trump: Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court appointees enabled the overturning of Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion. He has said that he would not sign a federal abortion ban but that states should be allowed to enact any restrictions they choose.
Roe v. Wade
Federal Ban
In Vitro Fertilization
Medication Abortion
Money and Abortion
Climate
Kamala Harris: Ms. Harris supports the Biden administration’s general approach to climate policies, including subsidies for renewable energy. She has promoted environmental justice programs, which focus on the impact of climate change on marginalized communities.
Donald Trump: Mr. Trump denies established climate science, disparages renewable energy and champions unlimited production of fossil fuels. His administration rolled back more than 100 environmental protection regulations, and he plans a similar agenda if elected again.
Regulations
Renewable Energy
Fossil Fuels
Adaptation
Emission Reductions
Democracy
Kamala Harris: Ms. Harris’s campaign has framed the election in part as a fight to preserve American democracy. She has condemned Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and she supports legislation to expand voting access and counter restrictions in Republican-led states.
Donald Trump: Mr. Trump is the only U.S. president who has refused to accept his loss. He tried to overturn the 2020 election and has sought to delegitimize the electoral system. He has used dehumanizing terms like “vermin” to describe his political opponents.
Transfer of Power
Voting Rights
Executive Power
Economy
Kamala Harris: Ms. Harris supports the Biden administration’s spending on infrastructure and renewable energy. She wants to ban price gouging, create incentives to build housing, expand tax credits for middle- and low-income households, and offset the costs by increasing taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.
Donald Trump: Mr. Trump enacted a large package of tax cuts as president and pursued protectionist trade policies, including a trade war with China. He wants to cut taxes further and enact more sweeping tariffs. He says he would not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits but has not provided a plan to keep the programs solvent.
Inflation
Spending
Taxes
Trade
Regulations
Social Security and Medicare
Housing
Immigration
Kamala Harris: Ms. Harris denounced many of the Trump administration’s immigration policies but has endorsed President Biden’s decisions to restore some of them, such as restrictions on asylum seekers, as illegal border crossings have reached record levels. She has tried to address root causes of migration by securing private funding for development projects in Latin America.
Donald Trump: Mr. Trump enacted sweeping anti-immigration policies when he was president, including separating migrant children from their parents. If elected again, he wants to round up millions of undocumented immigrants and detain them in camps before deporting them en masse.
Illegal Immigration
Asylum
Legal Immigration
Travel Bans
Israel and Gaza
Kamala Harris: Ms. Harris has said that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas and that the United States should continue to send it weapons, while calling for a cease-fire and putting somewhat greater emphasis than President Biden has on the humanitarian crisis that Israel’s bombardment and invasion have caused in Gaza. She supports a two-state solution.
Donald Trump: Mr. Trump has sought to position himself as a champion of Israel, and as president, he took actions that favored the country. He supports Israel in its war in Gaza and has condemned pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the United States, but he has also urged Israel to “finish up” the war because it is losing support. He said recently that he doubted a two-state solution was possible.
War in Gaza
Refugees
Two-State Solution
Israel and Other Countries
Pro-Palestinian Protests
Antisemitism
Netanyahu
