--- title: How Donald Trump is Handling the Debate Loss description: Donald Trump struggles to come to terms with what is viewed as a poor debate performance. Hillary Clinton prepares for an attack on Bill. canonical: https://time.com/4511258/how-donald-trump-is-handling-the-debate-loss/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-28T14:34:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:52:50.084Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Donald Trump is Handling the Debate Loss og:description: Donald Trump struggles to come to terms with what is viewed as a poor debate performance. Hillary Clinton prepares for an attack on Bill. og:url: https://time.com/4511258/how-donald-trump-is-handling-the-debate-loss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Donald Trump is Handling the Debate Loss twitter:description: Donald Trump struggles to come to terms with what is viewed as a poor debate performance. Hillary Clinton prepares for an attack on Bill. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Donald Trump is Handling the Debate Loss > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=84bd3917-eb09-49b1-95d5-10b5d7363ecb&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 28, 2016 2:34 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 28, 2016 2:34 PM UTC **_If you only read one thing:_** _Donald Trump is struggling to come to terms with broadly being seen as the loser in Monday night’s debate. Over the course of 24 hours, he defiantly claimed victory, blasted the media’s coverage of the debate, and offered excuses for why his performance wasn’t up to snuff. For a candidate for whom winning is essential to his brand, Monday’s missed opportunity is more than a setback—it’s getting in his head. Trump aides are starting to point fingers on why their candidate didn’t deliver, but if there is an ironclad political rule that has proven to be true even this unconventional cycle it’s that it’s usually the candidate’s fault. And now he has to figure out how to deal with it._ U.S. and global leaders are mourning the death of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. The Israeli government is saying that President Obama, Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton will travel to the funeral Friday, but there is no confirmation yet on the U.S. side. All three issued emotional statements about Peres’ death, having built close relationships with the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Donald Trump has yet to comment. Hillary Clinton, who touted First Lady Michelle Obama’s now-famous line, “when they go low, we go high,” at the debate, has remained silent herself about Howard Dean, a top surrogate, who suggested that the sound of Donald Trump seeming to sniffle during the debate was because of cocaine use. Trump gets a secret money group. The debate was the most-watched ever. And Clinton’s team prepares for Trump’s Bill attack. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Donald Trump Struggles to Deal With Debate Loss ](http://time.com/4511049/presidential-debate-donald-trump-rally/)How does a man whose brand is all about winning come to terms with defeat? 24 hours with the GOP nominee as he tries to figure it out \[TIME\] [Secret Money to Boost Trump ](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/secret-money-to-boost-trump-228817)A former anti-Trump financier offers GOP mega-donors who are embarrassed by Trump the chance to help him anonymously \[Politico\] [Donald Trump’s Blunt Defense of Business Record Poses Political Risks ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-blunt-defense-of-business-record-poses-political-risks-1475002517)Citing rough-and-tumble capitalism could appeal to some, repel other \[Wall Street Journal\] [New Debate Strategy for Donald Trump: Practice, Practice, Practice ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/us/politics/donald-trump-debate.html?%5Fr=0&referer=)Trump aides point fingers \[New York Times\] **Sound Off** “I was also holding back. I didn’t want to do anything to embarrass her.” — Donald Trump on his debate performance and Hillary Clinton “Anybody blaming it on the microphone is not having a good debate.” — Hillary Clinton on Trump’s debate excuse **Bits and Bites** [This Map Shows Who Would Win the Election If It Were Held Today](http://time.com/4508467/election-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-map/) \[TIME\] [More Than 80 Million Americans Watched First Presidential Debate](http://time.com/4510349/80-million-viewers-presidential-debate/) \[Reuters\] [Donald Trump Interrupted Hillary Clinton and Lester Holt 55 Times in the First Presidential Debate](http://time.com/4509790/donald-trump-debate-interruptions/) \[TIME\] [Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Man-Made Climate Change, Campaign Manager Says](http://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/) \[TIME\] [President Obama Nominates First U.S. Ambassador to Cuba in Half-Century](http://time.com/4511008/president-obama-nominates-ambassador-cuba-jeffrey-delaurentis/?xid=homepage) \[TIME\] [Alicia Machado, ex-Miss Universe mocked by Donald Trump, says insults contributed to eating disorder](http://www.today.com/news/alicia-machado-ex-miss-universe-mocked-donald-trump-says-insults-t103347) \[NBC\] [World Leaders Mourn the Death of Former Israeli President Shimon Peres](http://time.com/4511072/shimon-peres-israel-death-tributes-world-leaders/) \[TIME\] [What’s wrong with politicizing a tragedy? For Sen. Chris Murphy, nothing at all.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/whats-wrong-with-politicizing-a-tragedy-for-sen-chris-murphy-nothing-at-all/2016/09/27/92db2444-7de6-11e6-9070-5c4905bf40dc%5Fstory.html) \[Washington Post\] [When Trump said that not paying taxes ‘makes me smart,’ undecided voters in N.C. gasped](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-lean-toward-clinton-among-one-group-of-undecided-north-carolina-voters/2016/09/27/ff271b2e-8469-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f%5Fstory.html) \[Washington Post\] [Clinton team preps for Trump’s Bill attack](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-strategy-228811) \[Politico\] [Former GOP Sen. John Warner to endorse Hillary Clinton for president](http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article%5F55e3b795-3991-58c6-920e-94c1fd989e97.html) \[Richmond Times-Dispatch\] [Conservative Arizona Newspaper Endorses Hillary Clinton: ‘This Year Is Different’](http://time.com/4511271/arizona-newspaper-endorses-hillary-clinton/) \[TIME\] [Fact Check: Trump’s claim that a racial discrimination suit was ‘brought against many real estate firms’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/09/28/trumps-claim-that-a-racial-discrimination-suit-was-brought-against-many-real-estate-firms/) \[Washington Post\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4511258/how-donald-trump-is-handling-the-debate-loss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4511258/how-donald-trump-is-handling-the-debate-loss/"},"headline":"How Donald Trump is Handling the Debate Loss","datePublished":"2016-09-28T14:34:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:52:50.084Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: September 28","url":"https://time.com/4511258/how-donald-trump-is-handling-the-debate-loss/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4511258/how-donald-trump-is-handling-the-debate-loss/","name":"How Donald Trump is Handling the Debate Loss"}}]}] ```