The Blubber

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to participate in general election debates on June 27 and Sept. 10, putting an end to speculation about whether there would be debates for the 2024 general election.

CNN will host the first debate in late June at 9 p.m. at its studios in Atlanta, according to a press release from the news organization. ABC News announced that it would host the September debate.

The decision for the matchups between the current and former presidents was made swiftly on Wednesday after the Biden campaign proposed a new debate schedule ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

"To ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate, no audience will be present. Moderators for the debate and additional details will be announced at a later date," CNN stated.

The agreement came just hours after Biden challenged Trump to two debates hosted in a television studio before the November election—a departure from the traditional system.

Trump quickly responded, expressing disagreement with Biden's call to not debate in front of a crowd but accepting the proposed dates and indicating eagerness to debate.

The public agreement follows private back-channel discussions about possible meetings. Officials from the Biden and Trump campaigns have had informal conversations on debates in recent weeks, focused on meetings that would not involve the commission, according to two sources familiar, as well as a Trump campaign official.

A Trump campaign official told NBC News that “contacts” between the two campaigns related to potential debates began after Biden’s interview with radio host Howard Stern late last month, during which Biden said he would be “happy” to debate the former president. Afterward, the Trump campaign official said some brief discussions between the two 2024 teams took place.

Preparing for a debate in just six weeks could be a challenge for Biden, especially as the president is set to travel to Europe twice in the weeks prior—for the D-Day 80th anniversary in France and the G-7 Summit in Italy. But one senior Biden adviser said that “early prep is overrated,” while another said simply: “He’s ready to go.”

Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff, says he expects to reprise his role in helping organize debate prep for 2024 as he did in 2020. Bob Bauer, a former White House counsel and now personal attorney to Biden, played the role of Trump in mock sessions four years ago, but advisers would not yet say if he planned to reprise the role.

After both Biden and Trump made clear Wednesday morning that they wanted to debate each other, Biden said on X that he had accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in the June 27 debate.

"Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place," Biden said.