It is 90 box-office minutes that could change America.

With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump virtually tied in recent national polls, they enter the debate as the two least popular presidential candidates in modern history.

Tonight's debate, which will be moderated by NBC's Lester Holt, will see the two candidates speak on America's direction, achieving prosperity and the country's security.

US presidential debate: Trump vs Clinton

These will be covered across six 15-minute segments before an audience at New York's Hofstra University.

It has the potential to be a bloody battle, with a Superbowl audience of more than 100 million people forecast.

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In the blue corner, a career politician, an experienced debater, trying to stem an apparent surge in popularity for her rival.

Clinton vs Trump: White House rap battle

In the red corner, a reality TV star, who successfully disposed of his opponents by giving them nicknames on stage, now needs to prove he has the temperament to be commander-in-chief.

Mrs Clinton has been doing her homework - studying her rival and practising going into battle with him.

In the role of Mr Trump has been Phillip Reines, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state under Mrs Clinton and is known in Washington circles for his bullish, combative personality.

Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former Senate aide, told Sky News that Mrs Clinton "needs to be aggressive".

Documentary: Trump - Could it really happen?

"She can’t just let Trump be Trump," he said.

"People want to see her looking strong and challenging him."

Fact-checking any false claims, he says, is essential, but she must also present a positive vision for America.

The stakes are high for both candidates, but Mrs Clinton arguably has more to lose.

After her recent diagnosis of pneumonia, her appearance will also be scrutinized and Richard Nixon’s sweaty, unshaven look in the first ever televised debate, is a potent reminder that how you look, matters.

Mr Trump, appears to be looking for a fight before he’s even stepped in the ring, taunting his opponent by threatening to bring Gennifer Flowers along, with whom Bill Clinton admitted to having a sexual relationship decades ago.

At a time when he needs to present a presidential image, it is a risky move - potentially alienating women voters.

The billionaire businessman, who has consistently railed against convention, has been taking a more relaxed, on the-fly approach to his first ever debate.

But the Republican nominee has, we’re told, been watching Mrs Clinton’s "best and worst" TV moments. His TV background and ability to deliver pithy one-liners with populist appeal, could serve him well.

Hillary Clinton: Would You Vote For Her?

Bret Baier, who was a moderator in the Republican primary debates, tells me Mr Trump is "better at the soundbites".

Political commentators have been filling the airwaves with talk of Mr Trump's bar being low and expectations few. His own surrogates are also playing down his chances.

His biggest challenge will be staying on message. If he can do that, it may well be viewed as a victory.

In a race dominate by personality, this is a chance to debate policies.

By the end, we will find out if details make a difference.

:: Watch a special programme on the first US presidential debate on Sky News from 11pm tonight. You can also see a replay of the entire debate on Tuesday at 8.30am-10am and 2.30pm-4pm. It will also be available on our On Demand service.</s>This debate will be moderated by NBC news anchor Lester Holt for whom this will be the first time handling a presidential debate.

On Monday 9 pm (6 am IST), the two US presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, face off in their first debate. The US presidential debate is a tradition followed since 1960 to know the candidates off their campaign trails and convention halls.

This debate will be moderated by NBC news anchor Lester Holt for whom this will be the first time handling a presidential debate. The Presidential debate, which is televised across the country, takes place usually at a university with a large audience of over 1500 people. The first presidential debate of 2016 will take place at Hofstra University in New York.

This is one of the most anticipated events as the two candidates come with certain amount of baggage. There are scandals looming over both Clinton and Trump, weekly polls wavering in their predictions and back-and-forth negative campaigning.

The Republican candidate Donald Trump is known for his “showmanship”. The former TV show host has enraged the public since his announcement as candidate in 2015 by calling “Mexicans rapists and murderers”. But Trump has his fervent following as he won state after state before being somewhat reluctantly crowned as the Grand Old Party’s candidate. Trump’s claim that he’s an “outsider” (meaning someone not from the political circle of Washington DC) has been his biggest pitch working in his favour.

On the other hand, Clinton may make history by becoming the first female president of America. While Trump faces flak for his over-the-top appeal and harsh stand on immigration, what’s working against Hillary Clinton is another ball game altogether. Ghosts of her private email server during her time as secretary of state continue to haunt her. It is also one of the reasons why she’s rated “untrustworthy” by democrats.

How much of the debate will influence the voters? Will we get clarity from Trump on his policies? Will substance trump style?

If you are wondering why you’ve been hearing about the US elections, which will take place in November 2016, for more than a year now, here’s a quick lesson through the process involved.

US elections 101: How does the US elect its president?

The first-ever televised debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon was rated as the most-viewed TV programme then. Today, it will be televised, live-streamed, live-blogged (like this one) and live-tweeted. It may probably even be the highest-viewed programme ever and yes, that’s including Game of Thrones season finale.</s>This is gonna be good: Trump and Clinton are poised for a showdown likely to draw a massive audience. Follow our reporters for updates throughout the night.
• Leading candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will face off at 6 p.m. tonight in this election’s first presidential debate.
• The 90-minute, high-stakes debate will be televised on all major networks, but you’ll also be able to watch a live stream right here on this post.
• Play along using our debate bingo cards!
• At 8 p.m., Gov. Jay Inslee and Republican challenger will square off in another debate on local network channels and TVW.

Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are set to square off tonight in a high-stakes, must-see debate. Interest in this year’s election has been high — and Monday night’s 90-minute debate is sure to draw a massive audience.

Trump has nearly overcome the lead Clinton rode out of the Democratic National Convention, according to most polls. A Washington Post-ABC News poll of likely voters has Clinton leading Trump 46 percent to 44 percent. The poll shows Libertarian Party nominee at 5 percent and Green Party nominee Jill Stein at 1 percent.

The New York Times’ Upshot pegs Clinton at 44 percent and Trump at 41 percent. Fivethirtyeight’s poll forecasting puts Clinton’s chances of winning at 51.5 percent and Trump’s 48.5 percent.</s>Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of racism as the US presidential candidates clashed in their first head-to-head debate in the race to the White House.

The Democrat and Republican rivals squared off in a 90-minute debate at Hofstra University in New York, which was screened to tens of millions of television viewers in America and live-streamed across the world.

During a number of fiery exchanges, Mr Trump claimed he had a “better temperament” than Mrs Clinton and accused her of not having the “stamina” to be president.

Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump had started his political career with a “racist lie” after he falsely suggested President Barack Obama was born outside of America.

“He has a long record of engaging in racist behaviour,” she said.

Mrs Clinton also criticised the billionaire tycoon’s comments about women, adding: “This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs.”

Discussing the fight against Isis, Mr Trump attacked Mrs Clinton for revealing her plan to tackle the extremist group on her website.

“You’re telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you’ve been fighting Isis your entire life,” he said.

The candidates also addressed Mr Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, with the Republican insisting he would publish them against his lawyers’ advice if Mrs Clinton releases the 33,000 deleted emails from her private server.

His comments prompted cheers from sections of the audience, with moderator Lester Holt having to remind those watching to remain quiet.

Mrs Clinton said her use of a private email server was a “mistake” and claimed Mr Trump could be refusing to release his tax returns because he was not as rich or as charitable as he claimed.

She said: “I think probably he’s not that enthusiastic having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are because it must be something really important, even terrible, he’s trying to hide.”

During the debate, Mr Trump repeatedly insisted that he opposed the Iraq War before the 2003 US and UK invasion, despite telling radio host Howard Stern in September 2002 that he supported it.

Mrs Clinton said the Republican was too easily provoked to serve as commander in chief and could be quickly drawn into a war involving nuclear weapons.

“A man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes,” she said.

Discussing nuclear weapons, Mr Trump said he “would not do first strike” but he “can’t take anything off the table”.

Other notable exchanges during included Mrs Clinton telling Mr Trump “you live in your own reality”, before adding “By the end of this evening I think I’ll be blamed for everything that has ever happened.”

Mr Trump prompted laughter from the audience when he replied: “Why not?”

Former President Bill Clinton and Melania Trump were among those in the audience at the event, which was expected to the most watched debate in TV history.

Some 2,000 protesters gathered outside the debate hall, including Hardhats for Hillary, socialists and activists calling for a living wage, police said. Twenty four people were arrested on mostly disorderly conduct charges.

Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton will take part in two more debates before the November 8 election, while their running mates, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, will square off next week.</s>Donald Trump woke on Tuesday to find his campaign suddenly swaying amid gales of criticism of his performance in his first debate against Hillary Clinton, including from many Republicans.

There are two more debates coming in early October that will give Mr Trump a chance to redeem himself. Yet Rudy Giuliani, one of his most important sidekicks on the campaign trail, was openly suggesting that he should consider skipping them.

Mr Trump himself appeared to be starting to understand that he had not been the big hit that he seemed to think he had been when he first walked off the stage. His praise then for the debate moderator, Lester Holt, had by Tuesday morning becoming scathing criticism, for example.

A few Republicans attempted to come to his rescue. “The energy that Donald Trump offered tonight is why the enthusiasm is on our side,” the House speaker, Paul Ryan, who struggled over the summer to come to terms with Mr Trump as the nominee, said. “The American people are ready for solutions, and Donald Trump offers a chance to move in a new direction.”

But while the avalanche of praise for Ms Clinton from the Democratic political class was to be expected, the divided response from the Republicans was unusual and arresting.

“Hillary Clinton has had the best debate training I’ve seen in years,” commented Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster. “She knows when to attack and when to explain.” Mr Luntz had assembled his own focus group of undecided voters to watch the debate. By its end, the group had come down firmly for Ms Clinton.

“Bottom line: Trump was doing pretty well for the first fifteen minutes, then Hillary went on the offensive, and Trump choked,” offered William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, who has never been a fan of the New York billionaire, unconvinced of his conservative credentials.

Matt Macowiak, a Texas-based Republican consultant who worked in the administration of George W. Bush, has also been sceptical of Mr Trump - if not outright opposed to him - and remained so on Tuesday.

“Trump didn't need to win on points; he only had to surpass expectations,” he told The Hill. “I think he probably did, although not by much. What he did well was embrace a change message, which is what the electorate wants in a change election. My sense is Trump is still in the game, but that Clinton's solid performance will halt her negative slide in the polls.”

“He was exciting but embarrassingly undisciplined,” conservative columnist John Podhoretz wrote in the New York Post. “He began with his strongest argument - that the political class represented by her has failed us and it’s time to look to a successful dealmaker for leadership - and kept to it pretty well for the first 20 minutes. Then due to the vanity and laziness that led him to think he could wing the most important 95 minutes of his life, he lost the thread of his argument, he lost control of his temper and he lost the perspective.”

“Why didn’t he have a better answer ready for the birther nonsense?,” asked David French of the right-leaning National Review. “Has he still not done any homework on foreign policy? I felt like I was watching the political Titanic hit the iceberg, back up, and hit it again. Just for fun.”

Mr Giuliani’s intervention was meant to be a swipe at the moderator, Mr Holt, but nonetheless betrayed that he too knew the night had not gone well for the party’s nominee.

“If I were Donald Trump I wouldn’t participate in another debate unless I was promised that the journalist would act like a journalist and not an incorrect, ignorant fact checker,” Mr Giuliani said. “The moderator would have to promise that there would be a moderator and not a fact checker and in two particular cases an enormously ignorant, completely misinformed fact checker.”

He went on: “If you wonder why Donald Trump thinks that the press is a left-wing basically oriented group, Lester Holt proved it tonight.”

Having said immediately after the debate that Mr Holt had done a “great job”, Mr Trump by Tuesday had changed his tune, suggesting he had failed to take Ms Clinton to task.

“They were leaving all of her little goodies out. They didn't ask her about, you know, much,” Mr Trump told Fox. “But I was asked about my tax returns, which I've told about 500 times. But, you know, I think I did — I think I really did well when we were asked normal questions.”

Mr Trump lamenting on Monday night that his microphone had a problem was perhaps the first sign from him that he was aware he had not quite triumphed on stage. “My mic was defective within the room,” Mr Trump told reporters.”I wonder … Was that on purpose? Was that on purpose?”

There was no evidence of problems with the sound quality of his microphone.

Also noted was Mr Trump’s failure to show up, as he had promised, at a Republican watch party close to the debate venue at Hofstra University.</s>Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will make history as they take the stage together for the first time on Monday night (Tuesday morning India time), when they meet in New York for the first of the three presidential debates. It is for the first time in US presidential history that a male and female candidate will be facing off.

Both candidates have a lot at stake and each will have different opportunities and challenges in the debates.

Here are 7 things you need to know, including some you probably didn’t know, about the US presidential debate.

IMAGE: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will face off in their first debate on Tuesday morning Indian time. Photograph: Reuters

1) Where is it happening and when?

The first debate will be held at the Hofstra University in New York’s Long Island area. Hofstra is no newcomer to the debates, having hosted them in 2008 and 2012.

The debate will air in India at 9 pm ET (6.30 am IST on Tuesday). The questions will focus on three broad themes: America’s Direction, Achieving Prosperity and Securing America.

The second debate, on October 9 at Washington University in St Louis, will be moderated by Martha Raddatz of ABC and Anderson Cooper of CNN, while the third debate will be held on October 19 at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. It will be moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News.

2) Why is the debate historic?

This will be the first time in history that a male and female candidate will face off on a presidential debate stage. And like it or not, they will be judged differently.

Gender communications research shows that men, when they are aggressive, are received positively. When women are perceived as aggressive, they are received negatively. A lot thus rides on these debates.

3) How does the debate work?

The debate, which will be moderated be NBC News’s Lester Holt, will be 90 minutes long with six 15-minute segments and shall have no commercial interruptions.

Apart from the three broad themes referred to earlier, three more questions related to news events that took place this week will also be put to the candidates.

The moderator will open each segment with a question. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond; each will then be allowed to reply to the other's response. The moderator will use the remaining time for follow-up questions.

Each broad theme will be discussed for 30 minutes.

4) How are the candidates prepping for the debate?

While Clinton has a lengthy record of meticulous preparation and formidable performances, Trump has been more unpredictable on this front. After his controversial utterances he needs to be more a sober candidate and stick to the script.

To prepare for the debate, Clinton has been holding mock debate sessions where her aide Philippe Reines essays the role of Trump.

Trump aides said their candidate, who like Clinton participated in numerous TV debates during their respective parties’ nominating races, was preparing hard for the event. His coaches have focused for weeks on training him to stay on course and not drift off the message by booking events where he is trained to stick to the teleprompter.

5) What are the stakes for the candidates?

Both Clinton and Trump enter the debate as the two most deeply unpopular presidential candidates in recent history. The temerarious Trump needs and will have a chance to show the depth and steadiness worthy of a commander-in-chief.

Clinton will have a chance to prove her honesty (some 55 per cent of American voters fail her on this count) and will also have to prove that she has fully recovered from her recent bout of pneumonia.

6) How many people will watch the debates?

Many observers believe that the size of the audience is expected to challenge the presidential debate record of 80 million who watched the 1980 debate between then president Jimmy Carter and Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

7) What about the candidates’ running mates?

The vice presidential bets Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana will have one debate at Longwood University in Virgina on October 4. That debate will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News.</s>As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton walked on stage for the first presidential debate, they both oozed cool and calm. It was not a sign of things to come.

“Donald Trump was very strong for the first 20 minutes and then I feel he went off the rails,” Karol Ward, a New York-based psychotherapist and confidence expert, told The Independent.

“I thought Trump showed nervousness – he was drinking water early on with hands that were shaking a little,” she said. “Clinton also had nervous energy but it was contained in a different way.”

While Mr Trump gripped the lectern – “something to hold on to” – he stared at his opponent with pursed lips and sideways glances. Occasionally he rolled his eyes, Ms Ward said.

“This is just what I perceived, but he seemed to look to where his family were seated. He seemed to be trying to get signals or reassurance, whereas Clinton looked out more at the crowd.

“It was almost as if he was looking for encouraging smiles.”

The hashtag #sniffles started trending on Twitter within half an hour of the start of the debate.

“It’s either that he had a cold or it was a nervous tic,” she said.

“He seemed to to do it right before he answered a question. He wasn’t rubbing his nose or sniffling between answers so it was almost like when someone takes a breath but not deeply enough and they’re trying to get more air.”

The candidates each had a hard line of attack, covering national security, the economy and terrorism.

Mr Trump went after Ms Clinton on trade deals and emphasised “law and order” to deal with inner city violence, while the Democrat claimed he was not a successful businessman and asked what he was “hiding” by not releasing his tax returns.

But Mr Trump did get brownie points for the way in which he delivered his remarks, which would hold great sway with his voter base.

“It’s not always what you say, it’s how you say it,” said Ms Ward. “And if you’re forceful, it can be seen as a sign of strength.”

Ms Clinton’s beaming smile during the debate became a viral meme on Monday evening.

Ms Ward said the smile was a way of letting Mr Trump “hang himself” but Ms Clinton ended up missing a few key opportunities to hit back harder as a result.

“At times there was a little bit of a frozen smile on her face and she needs to let that go,” she said. “It means – ‘these things don’t bother me’ – but it didn’t always come across as appropriate or effective.”

While Ms Clinton maintained a slow and deliberate way of talking, Mr Trump became “defensive” at several points, insisting that Fox News anchor Sean Hannity could prove that Mr Trump had not wanted to invade Iraq.

“There’s a difference between defending oneself and saying ‘No, that’s not true’, and getting defensive.

“Defensiveness means getting heated, they can’t hear things and they go off on an irrational loop of thought.”

A key difference between the candidates came at the end of the debate.

While Ms Clinton, her husband and daughter instantly went to greet the crowd, Mr Trump surrounded himself with his family on stage.

“She really was conveying: ‘I’m available, I’m here, I’m open,” said Ms Ward.

“Bill Clinton shook all the Trump family’s hands before the debate started and they looked a bit startled by that.”</s>Donald Trump lied on stage. A lot. But that wasn't the big deal. Hillary Clinton smiled, baited Trump, and then smiled again. She also took the stage as the first woman presidential candidate nominated by a major party in the history of the United States.

But even that didn't rank compared to this shock of shocks.

A presidential candidate not only admitted that he hasn't paid federal taxes, but called himself smart for avoiding those taxes all these years. That's never happened onstage before.

Moderator Lester Holt exasperated us all by allowing Trump to ride roughshod over him. While Holt interjected every so often to try and get the two candidates to move on to the next topic, Trump and Clinton ignored Holt's admonitions to follow the rules laid out for this first debate, which lasted more than 90 minutes Monday night at Hofstra University. Trump spouted off inaccurate statements, lied about things he's previously said and uttered a number of alarming statements.

Over the course of the evening Trump assured the public he doesn't want to be the one to fire off nuclear weapons first (he made no such reassurances about being the second to fire though). He insisted that somehow the United States could have prevented the rise of ISIS by going in and taking the oil the group now uses to fund its terrorist activities, though Trump didn't tell us how he proposed to go in, take a country's oil and not be at war with said country.

When Clinton pointed out he hasn't actually paid federal taxes, Trump nodded eagerly. "That makes me smart," he retorted. Trump insisted he wasn't being "braggadocious" and then proceeded to brag about his success and really just all of the money he has. In other words, Clinton would cooly bait the verbal traps and Trump would stomp right into them. Repeatedly. He started out on message but by the end of the night his voice — which seemed like he'd worked to keep at low, even tones when the debate began — was growing strident and he was interrupting as often as he could.

Clinton mostly kept her cool over the course of the debate. She ended up talking over Trump's efforts to interrupt her, and interrupted him, but she seemed to make a point of smiling as she did it. She too kept her voice evenly pitched in certain dulcet tones, as if she wanted to avoid appearing harsh. But behind the determinedly pleasant, politely bemused expression, her face bore the look of someone playing chess against a dinosaur, surprised at such an absurd matchup but going with it, since this is how the game must be played.

"I have a feeling that by the end of this evening I'm going to be blamed for everything," Clinton said at one point.

She knew how Trump wanted to paint her and she did her best to avoid giving him the chance.

"Words matter. Words matter when you run for president, and they really matter when you are president," Clinton said, explaining that she will not be the kind of president who tosses words around carelessly. Her face was tautly tolerant when Trump brought up more than 30,000 emails she kept on a private server and deleted as secretary of state. Clinton responded that she had made a mistake and there were no excuses for that.

Meanwhile, Trump did his usual bit of never admitting to any missteps. He stood onstage — at the podiums that were tailored to make the two candidates appear the same height during the debate — and once again, denied being anything but tremendously tremendous.

He did not admit to a single mistake, not to things he's previously said about climate change, not about the Iraq War, not about how he actually got his start in businesses (through repeated loans from his father). And as the debate carried on, the two candidates engaged in verbal combat, trying to keep their respective composure and to win the fight.

Holt trailed along behind them, looking for a chance to get them back on topic every other beat. He didn't really pull it off.

As to who won the debate, it's a tossup. Clinton fans will say she owned it and Trump supporters will maintain he easily bested his opponent. But there was an obvious loser — Holt.</s>HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — Donald Trump repeatedly clashed with Hillary Clinton during Monday’s first presidential debate, interrupting her and appearing agitated at times as they tangled over the economy, her use of a private mail server and his unwillingness to release his income tax returns. Clinton maintained an even demeanor, smiling indulgently when Trump turned aggressive.

Clinton and Trump engaged in a vigorous back-and-forth on the debate stage at Hofstra University as polls showed them locked in a tight race. Given the wide interest in Trump, the business mogul and former reality TV star, and Clinton, the first woman to win the nomination of a major party, the debate was expected to draw a massive viewing audience.

Here are the top takeaways from Monday’s debate:

If Clinton aimed to get under Trump’s skin in the first 30 minutes of the debate, the Democratic nominee appeared to succeed. Clinton often put Trump on the defensive, saying he had “rooted for” the collapse of the housing industry and had considered climate change to be a hoax. In another exchange, Clinton said, “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening I’ll be blamed for everything that ever happened.”

Trump interjected, “Why not?” Later on, Trump said he had a “winning temperament,” prompting Clinton to respond: “Whew. OK.”

Trump scored points with his core supporters by lamenting the number of jobs that have moved overseas. He opened with an extensive argument that jobs are “fleeing the country” and going to Mexico while the U.S. economy is being undermined by China. He pointed to Ford Motor Co.’s plans to build compact cars in Mexico and railed against Carrier’s decision to move hundreds of air-conditioner manufacturing jobs from Indianapolis to Mexico. “So many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this,” Trump said. His economic case could resonate in states like Ohio and Michigan that have grappled with the loss of manufacturing jobs. “We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States,” he said. Clinton pointed out that her father was a small businessman, adding, “The more we can do for the middle class, the more we can invest in you, your education, your skills, your future, the better we will be off.”

Often delivered with a smile, Clinton came prepared with pithy lines that undercut Trump’s case on the economy. In an early exchange, Clinton said Trump would push for “trickle-down” tax cuts that would only benefit the wealthy, calling it, “trumped-up trickle-down.” When Trump got in a dig at Clinton’s absence from the campaign trail, she said there was nothing wrong with spending time preparing for the debate. “You know what else I did?” she asked. “I prepared to be president.”

Trump repeatedly underscored his role as a political outsider, questioning the economic stewardship of President Barack Obama and the administration of former President Bill Clinton, who sat in the front row. Describing the loss of manufacturing jobs in states like Michigan and Ohio, Trump said Clinton had been in government for 30 years, asking, “Why are you just thinking about these solutions right now?” When the discussion turned to foreign policy, Trump said Obama and Clinton failed to confront the Islamic State group, saying his opponent was there when it was “an infant.”

Clinton savaged Trump with a lengthy explanation of why Trump won’t release his tax returns, concluding he’s got something to hide. She said Trump may not be “as rich as he says he is” or “maybe he’s not as charitable” as he says he is. Clinton warned that perhaps Trump hadn’t paid any federal income tax at all, noting that some of Trump’s income tax returns in the 1970s showed he had paid no federal income taxes in certain years. Trump disclosed the returns to New Jersey casino regulators.

Clinton gave arguably her most concise answer to questions about her use of a private email server as secretary of state, taking responsibility and giving Trump nowhere to go. Despite her past statements in which she changed her story from previous iterations or left wiggle room by not being completely accurate, on Monday she avoided getting wrapped up in a lengthy exchange over one of her biggest liabilities. When Trump said he would release his tax returns if Clinton put out what he called her “33,000 deleted” emails, Clinton said, “I made a mistake using a private email” server. Trump interjected, “That’s for sure,” prompting Clinton to respond, “I take responsibility for that.”

Clinton turned the tables on Trump when he was asked to respond to his assertions that she doesn’t have the “stamina” to be president. Trump questioned whether Clinton has the physical fitness to be president and he repeated the criticism directly to her. Clinton replied that Trump shouldn’t talk about stamina until he’s tried to maintain a busy schedule like she kept up as secretary of state. And then she dug into him, adding, “This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs.”

Trump has said black voters have “nothing to lose” by supporting his candidacy but he was forced to answer for his role in claiming Obama was born outside the United States. Clinton accused Trump of spreading a “racist lie” that our “first black president” was not an American citizen, adding, “He has a long record of engaging in racist behavior.” Trump responded by recalling the bitter debates between Clinton and Obama during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, saying Clinton treated Obama then with “terrible disrespect.” Later, when Clinton said Trump’s view of black communities was too grim, Trump sighed, rolled his eyes and said, “Ugh.”

Trump and Clinton seemed to agree on two potentially combustible political issues: child care and barring people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns. Both are unusual positions for a GOP presidential nominee. Trump injected an element of surprise when he said he disagreed with many Republicans and “we have to look at” barring the sales of guns to people on the terror watch list. The proposal is sharply opposed by the National Rifle Association, one of Trump’s chief backers, but Democrats have hoped it will change the dynamic of the gun debate. Trump also said he backs government aid for child care expenses, an issue that has been pushed by his daughter, Ivanka Trump. Clinton and Trump have both proposed plans to help families pay for child care.

STAYING THE COURSE ON IRAQ, BIRTHERISM

Trump stood by his positions on two issues in which he has been frequently skewered by fact checkers: the Iraq war and his role in the so-called “birther” movement. Trump denied Clinton’s claims that he supported the Iraq war, saying it was a “mainstream media nonsense put out by her. I was against the war in Iraq.” But there isn’t any evidence Trump expressed public opposition to the war before the U.S. invasion. Trump also claimed that Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign was responsible for launching the birther movement that questioned Obama’s American citizenship. That’s not the case — Clinton’s campaign never publicly pushed that notion during the 2008 primaries.

Associated Press writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.</s>Both presidential candidates trade insults, spar over temperament which often see Republican on the back foot

HEMPSTEAD, United States: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded insults and sparred over temperament, stamina and judgement Monday, in a fiery US presidential debate that often saw the Republican on the back foot.

With six weeks until election day and polls showing a virtual dead heat, Clinton repeatedly questioned her rival’s fitness to serve in the Oval Office.

Before an anticipated television audience of up to 100 million, Clinton painted the celebrity real estate mogul as fatally out of touch and willing to say “crazy things” to get elected.

“You live in your own reality” said the 68-year-old Democrat, accusing Trump of launching his political career on the “racist lie” that Barack Obama is not American.

As Clinton projected steady experience, Trump played the populist bruiser, pitching to frustrated blue-collar voters fed up with politicians.

“Let me tell you, Hillary has experience. But it’s bad, bad experience,” quipped the billionaire, accusing the former secretary of state, first lady and US senator of being a “typical politician. All talk, no action. Sounds good, doesn’t work.”

The 70-year-old Trump has faced tough questions about his temperament during a deeply polarising 15-month campaign that has brought rightwing populism to the American political mainstream.

He began the keenly awaited debate at New York’s Hofstra University with a restrained tone. But as the temperature rose, he brought out the verbal brickbats, repeatedly interrupting Clinton and even questioning her stamina after a bout of pneumonia.

“Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a ceasefire, a release of dissidents… or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina,” Clinton shot back.

Trump appeared to get increasingly irritated and riled, at one point rolling his eyes and emitting a frustrated “ugh.”

In a snap CNN poll of 521 voters, 62 per cent judged that Clinton had won the debate against 27 per cent for Trump.

John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP that “hands down, Clinton looked better than Trump.”

“You don’t have to think that her performance was perfect, but the unique part of a presidential debate is that you don’t have to excel, you just have to do better than the only other person on stage.”

Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University, also praised Clinton’s performance.

However, he said, “Trump more than held his own with an informal and often unorganised ‘speech salad’ where he mixed things in odd ways but often with humor, and cleverly.”

Trump gave an upbeat assessment of his debate outing, telling AFP: “I thought it went very well for me.”

“We’ve been having an awfully good run and I think this continues it – according to all the online polls, you see what’s happening there? Through the roof.”

Clinton visited supporters who had attended a debate watch party in Westbury, New York, telling the crowd, “Do you feel good tonight? Well, I sure do… We had a great debate.”

If Clinton’s brightest moments came when debate turned to foreign policy, Trump’s came when he tapped into rich seams of malaise about politics and the economy.

“Our country is suffering because people like secretary Clinton have made such bad decisions in terms of our jobs,” he charged.

Trump squarely blamed Clinton and the political class for losing jobs to Mexico and China through what he termed bad trade deals and incompetence.

Clinton tried to undercut Trump’s CEO-in-chief acumen by accusing him of having “stiffed” small businesses throughout his career.

She demanded Trump honour tradition and release his tax returns, suggesting he may be lying about his much-vaunted wealth, his charitable donations, his tax bill or his ties with foreign benefactors.

She also accused him of backing an economic platform amounting to “the most extreme” package of tax cuts for the wealthy in US history.

“I call it trumped up trickle-down, because that’s exactly what it would be,” she quipped.

Trump fired back that he would release his tax returns, “when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted,” alluding to the Democrat’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.

Trump’s biggest handicap may be accusations that he has a weak grasp of policy – which he sought to counter by accusing his rival of sowing chaos in the Middle East during her tenure as secretary of state. — AFP
Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Party nominee Donald Trump hold the first presidential debate of the 2016 presidential election at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.