Trump aides believe a polished JD Vance made campaign more palatable

Trump campaign feels that a strong performance in the vice-presidential debate reset Vance's image and narrative with weeks until the election

• Walz and Vance clash over abortion and immigration in vice-presidential debate
• School shootings, childcare and cost of living: key takeaways from the debate

Donald Trump's senior aides saw JD Vance as having a slick debate performance over Tim Walz, according to people close to Trump, that made his campaign appear palatable despite the former president's increasingly caustic threats such as vowing to prosecute his perceived enemies.

The campaign aides also believed that Vance reset the narrative over his image and likely came across in a more favorable light to undecided voters after a brutal few months of being hammered for making disparaging remarks about women as childless cat ladies".