After performing poorly in the debate with current Vice President Harris, former U.S. President Trump's campaign has fallen into a predicament, disappointing Republican allies who believe he was unprepared, outshined by Harris, and conveyed unstable information to voters.

According to preliminary estimates from Nielsen, nearly 60 million Americans watched the televised debate held in Philadelphia on Tuesday, marking a new turning point in the U.S. presidential election. This debate could potentially damage Trump's prospects as he is currently working to regain momentum, with less than two months until the November 5th U.S. presidential election.

One of Trump's major donors said, "I think Trump missed a big opportunity, he could have taken down Harris... she was losing momentum at the time. I think this might have stabilized her situation."

Although Republican strategists and lawmakers do not believe that Trump's unstable performance has completely destroyed his campaign, many admit that the former president has been struggling and his campaign prospects now appear more precarious.

A senior Republican strategist close to Trump said, "What is most frustrating about his performance is that he fell into a trap, so it is definitely a missed opportunity."

Billionaire, New York grocery industry giant, and Trump donor John Catsimatidis said, "Maybe he was too confident, maybe he wasn't well-prepared, maybe he's just tired."

Catsimatidis also acknowledged that Harris performed "much better than expected" in the debate, as she had remained silent for the past three months. Everyone thought she lacked debating skills.

In the 90-minute debate, Harris kept Trump in a passive state for most of the time. The two leaders, who had never met before, unexpectedly shook hands at the beginning, and then Harris vigorously attacked him on issues ranging from abortion to Trump's reputation among foreign leaders.

During the debate, Trump appeared panicked at many times, including when Harris questioned the size of his campaign rally crowd. Trump then became furious, railing against immigrants and repeating an online conspiracy theory that some people are stealing and eating people's pets.

Veteran pollster Frank Luntz said the debate showed "the worst side of Trump." Luntz has worked for many Republicans over the years.

"Trump had many opportunities... He could have talked about inflation every time, but he chose to change the topic," Luntz said. "Did Harris make him uncomfortable? Absolutely. Should he be uncomfortable? Absolutely not. But this is indeed his nature."

Luntz said that Trump may have "no choice" but to participate in another television debate provided by Harris' campaign team, even though the Republican candidate has not yet indicated whether he will participate. "He has to recover, he has to give people a reason not to see this as the moment he decided his fate."

On Wednesday morning local time, Trump and Harris appeared together at the ceremony in New York City commemorating the 2001 September 11th attacks, and they shook hands again.

But before the second handshake, Trump appeared on Fox News' morning television program, insisting that he had "performed well" and that the debate was unfair to him. He accused the debate moderator of the American Broadcasting Company News (CNN) of being "dishonest," and said their broadcast license should be revoked.

An immediate poll conducted by the independent polling institution SSRS after the debate found that among the 605 viewers, 63% believed that Harris won the debate, while Trump's support rate was 37%. Before the debate, an expert panel of voters was evenly divided on which candidate would perform better.

A YouGov survey of over 3,300 people on Wednesday found that 43% of people believed Harris had formulated a clearer plan, 32% said Trump had formulated a clearer plan, and 24% were undecided.

During the debate, the gambling market also heavily favored Harris. Although Harris and Trump had similar odds when they entered on Tuesday night local time, by the end of the debate, Harris had a 7 percentage point advantage over Trump.

Even some of Trump's top allies in Congress admitted that Harris scored higher when targeting the former president.

A recent former Trump supporter, Ken Kennedy, told Fox News that Harris "clearly won the debate in terms of speaking style, skills, organization, and preparation".

Florida Republican congressman Byron Donalds said after the debate, "Harris knows how to excite people, she answered the question of whether she could stand on stage and meet the standards. But where are the policies? Where is the leadership? She avoided the issue of her own record."

According to the nationwide poll tracking by the Financial Times, Harris' support was 2.1 percentage points ahead of Trump on Tuesday before the debate, and the situation in all key battleground states was extremely tight.

A senior Republican strategist said, despite their concerns, Trump's poor performance "is unlikely to significantly change the situation." Because "Harris' performance was above passing level, but far from stunning."

It is currently unclear whether Trump will agree to participate in a second presidential debate with Harris. Harris' campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, said later on Tuesday that the vice president is willing to participate in another debate next month.

However, on Wednesday, Trump expressed reservations to Fox News, which has mentioned three possible debate dates in October. Trump said,

"I don't know if I want to participate in another debate, I might not be inclined to because we performed well that night."

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