Former President Trump, feeling the heat of Vice President Harris' surging momentum in the polls, is reverting to his brawler instincts — auditioning caustic attacks and incoherent nicknames in real time to figure out what sticks.

• On Truth Social, Trump repeatedly has referred to Harris as "Kamabla" — a nonsensical nickname that appears intentional, but has bewildered journalists and even GOP surrogates, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

Why it matters: Gone is much of the fleeting discipline Trump flashed when polls put him on course for a potential landslide over Biden earlier this summer.

⏱️ Zoom out: Having lost the luxury of a familiar foe in President Biden, Trump has just three months to try to define Harris and her relatively unknown running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

• Trump and his allies have revived old claims by a pair of Army veterans accusing Walz — who served in the National Guard for 24 years — of "abandoning" his unit by retiring two months before it received deployment orders to Iraq in 2005. (Go deeper.)

⏪ Between the lines: Trump campaign co-leader Chris LaCivita helped lead the notorious "Swift Boat" campaign to try to discredit the military service of then-Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004.

• Not lost on Democrats is Trump's own record of avoiding the Vietnam draft five times, including once for bone spurs.

During a call-in appearance on "Fox & Friends" yesterday, Trump acknowledged he was frustrated by Harris' political "honeymoon."

• Expect his team's attacks to grow more provocative — and more personal — if her momentum continues.

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Democrats have poured nearly twice as much cash into political ads this cycle ($325 million) compared to Republicans ($180 million), Axios' Sara Fischer writes from new projections by AdImpact, a political advertising analysis firm.

• Why it matters: After donors balked at continuing to back President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris' momentum suggests her party could maintain its advertising edge heading into November.

📱By the numbers: Democrats so far have spent the bulk of its advertising dollars on digital properties, including Facebook and Google.

• That's notable, since campaigns have historically poured most of their dollars into local broadcasts.
• TV ads, which tend to be longer and viewed on a big screen, are good for persuading voters. Digital ads, typically used for fundraising and list-building, help candidates target certain populations, such as younger or minority voters.

💡 Axios insight: Historically, campaigns were limited to advertising opportunities on heavily regulated mediums with limited inventory, such as television, radio and print.

• Today, the internet offers infinite inventory for campaigns to place ads with few regulations. That has contributed to soaring political ad spending.

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Real estate commissions have already started falling, in the wake of a landmark settlement this spring that could reshape the housing market — and they'll likely fall even further, Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck writes.

🔻 By the numbers: The average commission for a buyer's agent fell to 2.55%, from 2.62% at the beginning of the year, according to an analysis from Redfin of the 50 most populous metro areas in the U.S.

• The settlement's new rules take effect in a few weeks — changes that will likely cause commissions to shrink even further, and may nudge some agents toward up-front payments rather than commissions.

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PARIS — Getty Images has a goal of posting photos of big Olympics moments in as little as 26 seconds — a feat that requires a tremendous combination of technology and human efficiency, Axios' Ina Fried writes.

• How it works: Almost none of the photo editing is being done in Paris. Instead, Getty flew editors to London, Australia and the U.S. to quickly process images. That trio ensures all time zones are covered.

🖥️ The company has established an array of private 5G networks, and is using Starlink satellite modems as a backup.

• Getty has upgraded its underwater robots from the ones at the Tokyo Summer Games four years ago, and has set up an array of remotely controlled cameras high above the action.

Go deeper: Olympics psychology — the sadness of the silver medal.

One year ago today, devastating wildfires tore through Maui, destroying most of the Lahaina community.

• These pairs of photos, produced by AP, show the damage a year ago — and the slow progress since.

Above: Burned-out cars that lined the seawall near Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, are gone. But efforts to remove debris and rebuild have been slow. Almost no new construction has begun.

Most of the residential debris has been removed along this stretch of Front Street in Lahaina. Removal of commercial debris began last month.

No construction has taken place after the removal of debris in this neighborhood along Lahainaluna Road in Lahaina.

• Go deeper: How horses at the Spirit Horse Ranch help Maui wildfire survivors process their grief.

Costco's membership-sharing crackdown is going nationwide, Axios' Kelly Tyko reports.

• 🪪 Shoppers will soon need to scan their membership cards when entering the store.

Why it matters: The new system ensures at the outset that the person doing the shopping and the person on the membership card are the same person — which, Costco says, is much faster and more reliable than doing it at check-out.

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Ben LaBolt, White House communications director, is adding the title of Senior Advisor to the President for the administration's stretch run, and will spend more time on broad strategy and advising President Biden,

• Why it matters: LaBolt, who will continue to manage communications, will inherit many of the responsibilities of senior adviser Anita Dunn, who left the White House this week to consult for Future Forward, the largest Democratic-leaning super PAC.

The backstory: LaBolt, 42, a veteran of former President Obama's White House and campaign, has helped Biden find a modern mix of traditional news + lifestyle outlets like dayside TV in this ever-more-fractured media landscape.

• LaBolt managed Biden's prep process for media appearances — from Seth Meyers to Howard Stern.
• LaBolt has leveraged a 20-plus-year Rolodex of media relationships developed on presidential campaigns, Capitol Hill and Supreme Court nomination fights.
• He built a high-powered client roster at a communications and marketing agency that became part of the powerhouse Bully Pulpit International, where he was a partner.

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told us: "Ben has a sophisticated understanding of how to break through in a shifting and complex media landscape and has become a trusted advisor to the President."

• Zients said LaBolt will help the White House "navigate through the campaign period and then the final chapter of this presidency — and make sure Americans understand everything President Biden has delivered."

Liberals' newest status symbol might be a viral camo hat reading "Harris-Walz."

• 🧢 The Harris campaign released the hat a few hours after announcing that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would join the ticket. It became an immediate internet favorite, Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery writes.

The $40 camo hat sold out in 30 minutes, with 3,000 orders totaling almost $1 million in purchases, the campaign tells Axios. Now it's only available for preorder, with shipping expected in October.

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