Trump pressures Biden to debate him before mail-in ballots go out

'They want to get out of it,' president says of Democrats and debates despite Biden and surrogates saying the exact opposite

Donald Trump on Thursday floated the idea of having just one debate with Joe Biden, pressuring the former vice president to go one-on-one before states send out mail-in ballots.

"I want a debate. ... One debate," Mr Trump said as he and Fox Business morning host Maria Bartiromo talked over one another during a wild early morning interview conducted via telephone. "Move it forward."

During the confusing exchange, the president appeared to endorse four debates, with one added to the existing schedule, to which both sides have agreed.

The GOP president and the presumptive Democratic nominee are slated to debate three times: 29 September in Cleveland; 15 October in Miami; and 22 October in Nashville.

After floating just one debate before mail ballots are distributed, the president then said he is open to adding an earlier one to that plan.

"Move it forward or have an extra one put in," an animated Mr Trump said, before adding of Mr Biden and Democrats: "They want to get out of it."

Despite the president's claim, Mr Biden and his campaign team insist he is eager to go toe-to-toe with Mr Trump.

The soon-to-be Democratic nominee in July said he "can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I'm running against."

Andrew Bates, a top Biden campaign official, on 3 August said in a statement that his boss "looks forward to debating Donald Trump on the dates and in the locations chosen by the Presidential Commission on Debates."

The Biden campaign has yet to embrace a fourth debate.