A campaign shock echoes in Ukraine

US presidential campaign is a roller-coaster ride [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Donald Trump was careening off piste after flubbing his debate with Kamala Harris, making false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets and posting “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” [after the pop superstar]( endorsed the vice president. His campaign had plumbed such depths of chaos that even far-right Republicans were starting to criticize his close association with extremist activist Laura Loomer, following her racist social media post this week about Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent. And then came [a second assassination attempt]( after one in July, this time from an American advocate for Ukraine wielding an assault rifle and lurking behind the bushes at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort while the former president was on the golf course. Ryan Routh, 58, posted on social media about his [desire to fight in the war]( following Russia’s invasion in 2022. He had been interviewed by the New York Times in a piece about foreign volunteers with no military experience desperate to help. He was apprehended, allegedly before he could fire a shot. Still, the fact that he was able to come within 500 yards of Trump will raise inevitable questions about the security around the ex-commander in chief and the pervasiveness of violence in contemporary America. WATCH: Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw discusses the details with reporters at a press briefing yesterday. For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, it is very unfortunate timing and the wrong kind of attention. He’s dealing with a lame-duck presidency in the form of Joe Biden, while trying to wring out permission from the US to use long-range missiles against Russia. With Harris and Trump locked in a tight race for the November election, Zelenskiy aims to get Kyiv in the best possible position. Harris represents continuity — with Trump who knows? During the debate, he twice refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win. If the Republican candidate’s sympathy for Ukraine was already questionable, this [latest bizarre turn]( in a roller-coaster campaign could influence his thinking in ways difficult to predict. — [Flavia Krause-Jackson]( WATCH: Bloomberg’s Jill Disis reports on the possible fallout of the assassination attempt in a topsy-turvy campaign. Source: Bloomberg Global Must Reads China’s deepening slowdown is testing President Xi Jinping’s tolerance for missing a high-profile target of 5% growth, as he balances expansion with avoiding the big stimulus that [fueled previous boom-and-bust cycles](. Failure to achieve the goal could further undermine confidence in the world’s No. 2 economy, with foreign investors pulling a record amount of money from China in the second quarter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition looks shakier than ever in the face of lowered credit ratings, falling exports and the risk of an even deeper economic slump as Israel closes in on a year of war in Gaza. An [intensifying struggle over the budget]( offers a lens through which to view Israel’s escalating crises over security, prosperity and identity. Israelis protest against the government in Tel Aviv on Sept. 7. Photographer: David Lombeida/Bloomberg China offered an olive branch to the US by freeing an American pastor after nearly two decades in prison. [The unexpected release]( of David Lin, a 68-year-old born-again Christian held on allegations of fraud, suggests Beijing is making a show of goodwill at a critical time for US-China relations, especially ahead of the US presidential election. The threat of Libya sliding toward civil war has united one-time foes Egypt and Turkey to try to [resolve a power struggle]( between two competing governments in the OPEC nation. While there’s no illusion about the scale of the challenge — and Egypt and Turkey are only two of the foreign powers with sway in Libya — their joint influence has significantly reduced fears of a full-blown war in the North African country, diplomats say. President Javier Milei issued a bullish outlook for Argentina’s economy as he outlined his first budget since taking office on a platform of drastic austerity to pull the country back from the brink. Before releasing details to Congress yesterday including projections that annual inflation will slow from more than 236% now to 18% by the end of 2025 — when his minority party faces midterm elections — Milei delivered [a trademark combative speech]( in the legislature laced with insults aimed at opposition lawmakers. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, in Rome today to seek support for a proposal to let Kyiv use [non-US long-range weapons]( against Russia. A Hong Kong man pleaded guilty to one charge of sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, marking [the city’s first conviction]( under its new national security law. Nigeria’s state-owned energy firm began shipping gasoline from the Dangote refinery, a step that could end [decades of dependence]( on imports of the fuel for Africa’s largest crude producer. Washington Dispatch Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said yesterday on CBS’s Face the Nation that Trump’s proposals for higher tariffs on US imports [will help offset]( his expanding tax-cut plans if he’s reelected in November. Trump’s call for ending all taxes on tipped income, overtime work and Social Security retirement benefits has raised questions among economists and political opponents about the impact on the US budget deficit. He has pledged to enact a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports, potentially targeting trading partners such as the European Union, and to increase duties on Chinese-made goods to 60% or more, saying that would generate trillions for the US. Most economists argue that Americans [would ultimately pay higher costs]( and face reignited inflation. One thing to watch today: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear arguments against the law enacted this year that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a [US ban]( of the video-sharing platform. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day As warehouses across China bulge with grain amid a deepening economic crisis, the world’s farmers must face the [prospect of a long-lasting slowdown]( gripping one of their largest customers. The strain across global markets is already showing. French barley exports to China have been tumbling and the US has yet to sell a full corn cargo for the new season. Wheat farmers in Australia are likely to be nervous as they prepare to start harvesting their new crop over the coming weeks. And Finally A temporary extension of border controls to all of Germany’s nine land frontiers [takes effect today]( part of efforts to tackle irregular migration that have irritated some of its EU partners. Berlin has said it wants to limit the impact on travelers as much as possible but can’t rule out additional disruption. The action, which effectively removes the guarantee of free movement between almost all EU countries, comes with Chancellor Olaf Scholz under pressure to address voter concerns over immigration and anti-immigrant forces on the extreme right and left [on the rise](. Thanks to the 30 people who answered the Friday quiz and congratulations to Gabriel Sivzattian, who was the first to name Colombia as the country where the world’s oldest guerrilla force restarted its war on the oil industry with a wave of pipeline attacks. 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