These 4 issues will likely define the Trump-Biden debate

• With the second debate not scheduled until September, whatever happens Thursday night — sharp points, gaffes or stumbles — will reverberate for months. Because the internet does not forget.

Here are some of the key issues that could come up during the debate:

The economy

Though the U.S. economy has seen inflation cool and hiring continue to boom, Americans have maintained negative views about the economy and even conflate rising prices with inflation.

• Biden has outlined a plan to increase taxes on wealthy and large corporations and to restore the child tax credit that expired in 2022.
• Trump has vowed to extend his signature tax cuts, which are set to expire next year. He has also discussed further reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21%. (It was 35% before his 2017 tax bill.)

Between the lines: Both Biden and Trump support tariffs on imports from China, though the former president has pitched raising tariffs much more aggressively.

• Biden's approach has been more targeted, zeroing in on specific industries. Earlier this year, Biden ramped up tariffs on products like Chinese steel, electric vehicles and batteries.
• Trump has a broader approach, floating ideas like a new 60% tariff on all Chinese imports and a 10% tax on all imports.

Zoom in: Trump has even reportedly suggested using tariff revenue to replace the income tax — though experts see the idea as implausible.

The intrigue: A group of 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists warned recently that Trump's economic policies would reignite inflation, Axios' Hans Nichols reported.

Immigration

Immigration has emerged as a top concern for voters, with Trump and Biden even hosting dueling visits to the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year.

• Biden has faced Republican attacks that he's too soft on the border as the number of migrants crossing has surged since he took office.
• The president earlier this month issued a long-anticipated executive order designed to reduce illegal border crossings — his administration's most aggressive to date. (Reality check: It could face challenges to implementation.)
• Trump has floated the idea of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants if he wins a second term.

Context: Biden's executive order relies on the same section of federal code that Trump used against immigration during his presidency — including his so-called Muslim ban and an attempt to ban asylum seekers.

• Trump encouraged Republicans to tank a bipartisan border deal earlier this year that would have enacted tough border restrictions — depriving Democrats of a key legislative win.

Abortion rights

Biden and other Democrats have sought to make abortion a defining issue of the 2024 race after the issue drove voters to the polls during the midterms.

• If appointed to a second term, Biden has vowed to codify the abortion-related protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law.
• Trump has said abortion regulations should be left to the states and denied that he'd support a national ban. He had previously suggested a national 15-week abortion ban could be "very reasonable."

• Earlier this year, Trump told TIME magazine that it is up to states if they decide to monitor women's pregnancies to determine if they've had abortions.

Zoom out: Trump has repeatedly bragged about his role in overturning federal protections for abortions by appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court where they now hold a supermajority.

• Since the 2022 Dobbs decision, protecting abortion rights has won on the ballot in red and blue states.

Foreign policy

Since Biden took office, the U.S. has contended with wars in Europe and the Middle East, making foreign policy a key focus for whichever candidate wins the election.

• Biden has faced criticism from some members of his own party for his support for Israel over the course of the Israel-Hamas war, though he has increasingly clashed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the conflict has gone on.
• Trump has also repeatedly expressed support for Israel but has avoided publicly backing Netanyahu.

Zoom in: Trump is an avowed NATO-skeptic who has long been critical of the alliance. Earlier this year, he suggested he would stand by Russia if it invaded a NATO ally.

• Reports suggest that Trump has privately said that he would end Russia's invasion of Ukraine by pressuring Kyiv to cede territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the majority of Ukrainians have opposed such proposals.
• Biden has been a strong supporter of Ukraine and NATO. The Biden administration has typically deferred to Ukraine when it comes to questions of peace talks, saying it will not pressure Kyiv to negotiate.

Flashback: As president, Trump regularly disregarded the post-World War II international order the U.S. had helped create.

• He reportedly threatened to withdraw the U.S. from World Trade Organization and did successfully withdraw the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council and the Paris climate agreement.

Go deeper: Questions we'd ask at the presidential debate