US election 2016: Clinton and Trump spar in 'nastiest' debate in recent memory
10 October
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded insults last night in the second presidential debate - but Clinton failed to land the knockout blow that some commentators had expected.
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"Trump will live to fight another day," says CNN, "but it took the nastiest, most bitterly personal presidential debate in recent memory for the Republican nominee to staunch the downward plunge."
It was a "dark and bitter" night, agrees the Washington Post, while the New York Times calls it "one of the most tawdry debates in modern history".
The candidates refused to shake hands before the debate, which was held at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, and discussion soon turned to a video released on Friday that shows Trump bragging about grabbing women and forcing himself on them.
The Republican dismissed the remarks as "locker-room talk" and skipped between apologising for it and talking about attacking Islamic State.
"Yes I'm very embarrassed by it, but I will knock the hell out of Isis," he said.
Clinton cited the tape as proof Trump is not fit to be president.
"I said starting back in June that he was not fit to be president," she said. "What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women - what he thinks about women; what he does to women."
Trump tried to turn the attack back on his Democrat rival, accusing her husband, Bill, of abusing women throughout his career - a defence he began before the debate, when he held a press conference with three women who say the former president sexually harassed them.
On stage, Trump "glowered, interrupted and prowled", says CNN, "calling Clinton a 'devil' and 'liar' with 'hate in her heart'." His performance probably "electrified his fiercely loyal supporters but may have done little to widen his appeal among more moderate swing state voters".
Undecided voters may also have been put off by his admission that he avoided paying federal income taxes after declaring almost $1bn in losses in 1995.
Trump was slipping in the polls before the debate and dozens of senior Republicans, including former presidential nominee John McCain, have withdrawn their endorsements. The vice presidential nominee, Mike Pence, has also distanced himself from the businessman.
"I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. I am grateful that he has expressed remorse," said Pence.
Last night, as in the days before, Trump was his own worst enemy, says the Washington Post. And while Clinton may not have vanquished him, nor did she "make any sort of glaring error that would allow the Republican back into the contest".
US election 2016: Trump branded a 'maniac' in VP debate
5 October
Tim Kaine called Donald Trump a "fool and a maniac" who could plunge the world into nuclear war, during a hostile vice presidential debate with Mike Pence, Trump's running mate, last night.
The two men "started out speaking politely to each other, then quickly descended into squabbling", says the Wall Street Journal. Moderator Elaine Quijano from CBS News was left struggling to maintain control.
The main focus of the debate was the suitability of the presidential nominees, as both candidates tried to "cast the other party's nominee as an unacceptable choice in a time of peril", the paper adds.
Each man said the other's party was running a dirty campaign, with Pence accusing Hillary Clinton and Kaine of hurling an "avalanche of insults".
Kaine, meanwhile, called Trump "a danger to US national security and someone who denigrates women and minorities", while Pence "punched back, forcing Kaine to defend Clinton's honesty and trustworthiness", reports Reuters.
Trump's refusal to release his taxes was a major talking point, along with immigration, social security, criminal justice and Russia.
The pair "sparred vigorously over Trump's avowed affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin", says the Washington Post, with Kaine accusing the businessman of confusing "leadership with dictatorship".
The debate was the only head-to-head contest that has been scheduled for the vice presidential candidates. Trump and Clinton will meet again for the second presidential debate on Sunday, which will be moderated by CNN's Anderson Cooper.
US election 2016: Trump 'may have paid no tax for 18 years'
3 October
Donald Trump may have avoided paying any federal taxes for two decades, it has emerged.
Documents obtained by the New York Times show the US presidential candidate declared a loss of more than $900m in 1995, which would have enabled him to offset future earnings and legally pay no federal tax for as long as 18 years.
Trump has repeatedly refused to release his tax returns and during last week's presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, said paying no federal tax made him "smart".
There is no evidence the Republican did anything improper. However, "just because it's legal... doesn't mean this revelation isn't potentially damaging", says the BBC's Anthony Zurcher.
New Jersey governor and Trump supporter Chris Christie told reporters: "There's no one who's shown more genius in their way to manoeuvre around the tax code."
The revelations have brought accusations of hypocrisy at the billionaire, who has over the years has condemned prominent Americans, including President Barack Obama and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, for not paying enough tax.
While the issue of tax could hurt Trump's presidential bid, revelations that his charitable foundation may not have secured the right paperwork to solicit public money could be far more damaging.
If proven to be true, says The Independent, he would stand accused of being a "conman".
US election 2016: USA Today brands Trump a 'demagogue'
30 September
USA Today has broken its 34-year tradition of not taking sides in a presidential race and published a scathing attack on Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Although the newspaper did not endorse Hillary Clinton directly, it called on readers to vote for anyone but Trump, accusing him of having a "troubling admiration for authoritarian leaders and scant regard for constitutional protections" and being "unfit" for presidency.
"From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week's first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents," it said.
The 1,200-word opinion piece, written on behalf of the editorial board, ends on an unequivocal note: "Whatever you do... resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump."
In a separate piece, the board explained why it had chosen to break with tradition, saying members had asked themselves what USA Today's founder, Al Neuharth, would have done.
It described Neuharth, who died in 2013, as a "champion of diversity, a defender of First Amendment freedoms and an optimist about America's future" and added: "In a 2012 column, he described Trump as 'a clown who loves doing or saying things' to get attention, 'no matter how ridiculous.' Sounds like Al was on to something."
US election 2016: Cafes across the world troll Trump with special sandwich
29 September
Cafes around the world are serving up a special sandwich inspired by US presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
The Trump sandwich – "white bread, full of boloney, Russian dressing, a small pickle" - has been advertised across the US, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Canada.
It comes with warnings such as "hard to swallow" or "you may not get what you were told you were buying", while a chalkboard in Brooklyn promised customers would be served "by a Mexican or a Muslim".
The aim of the sandwich was to "catch people's eyes", Faye McFarland, the owner of the Harlem Cafe in Belfast, told the Irish News.
"It's to make people smile," she added. "It's just for people to see the lighter side of politics as opposed to taking it all so seriously".
Not every customer has seen the "lighter side", however.
Lawrence Lavender, the owner of the Windsor Sandwich Shop in Ontario, Canada, told the Huffington Post: "The negative stuff I am taking from people in Texas and other red states is getting to be ridiculous."
But others have been more receptive, he added, especially to his addition of a tortilla wall around the sandwich to represent Trump's plans for a "great wall" to keep Mexican immigrants out of the US.
US election 2016: Trump on the back foot in first TV debate
27 September
Hillary Clinton put Donald Trump on the defensive in the first US presidential debate last night, accusing the Republican nominee of "a long record of engaging in racist behaviour", say commentators.
During a "relentlessly antagonistic" clash, "Mrs Clinton came off as a classically prepared debater who used Mr Trump's record and words against him," says the New York Times, "while Mr Trump seemed to be improvising on stage much of the time."
The first big moment of the debate came when Clinton accused her Republican rival of saying "climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese", a point he interrupted to deny, despite evidence to the contrary.
Trump was a "feisty and sometimes undisciplined aggressor", says the Washington Post.
He accused the Democrat of creating the power vacuum in the Middle East that led the rise of Islamic State and criticised members of the Nato alliance for "not paying their fair share".
But he found himself "mostly on the defensive", the paper says. He was unable to explain why he had not released his tax returns and struggled to respond to accusations of sexism and racism. When he claimed to have "more judgement" and a "much better temperament" than his rival, the audience laughed.
"Mrs Clinton was likely to be the happier of the two candidates," says The Times. "She had succeeded in her primary aim of disrupting Mr Trump's attempts to appear statesmanlike and presidential by drawing out the finger-jabbing, insult-lobbing candidate who marauded through the Republican primaries."
But Clinton's win was a points decision rather than a knock-out. "Both candidates delivered performances likely to please and energise their core supporters," says the Washington Post, while Fox News says: "It's unclear how and whether it will tilt the race at a time when the polls are tightening."
"I think that the supporters of both parties are going to believe their candidate won," says ABC News analyst David Smith.
"Those of us who have some sort of respect for normal politics will think Clinton won this debate. She looked a lot more presidential. But there will be plenty of people that buy Trump's idea that all politicians, including Clinton, have failed so badly that they need a completely new approach."
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