--- description: Cardinal Dolan, who sat between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at the Al Smith dinner, said the candidates shared some "touching moments." title: Cardinal Dolan Witnessed "Touching Moments" Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt671c4f94741840b3/6988aafea988ca2ce56b9d82/clinton-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Trump and Clinton Said 'Nice Things Privately' at Dinner, Cardinal Says  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 21, 2016 2:32 PM CUT  Hillary Clinton, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Donald Trump, and his wife Melania Trump at a charity gala organized by the Archdiocese of New York, on Oct. 20, 2016. Hillary Clinton, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Donald Trump, and his wife Melania Trump at a charity gala organized by the Archdiocese of New York, on Oct. 20, 2016.Andrew Harnik—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 21, 2016 2:32 PM CUT Cardinal Dolan was admittedly “nervous” about his seating at Thursday night’s [Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner](http://time.com/4540173/alfred-smith-roast-clinton-trump-insults/?xid=homepage "undefined"): he was placed directly between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. But he said despite the evening’s occasionally [biting punchlines](http://time.com/4540289/al-smith-dinner-trump-clinton-zingers/ "undefined"), the two candidates shared some companionable time. “I was very moved by the obvious attempt on behalf of both Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump to both be courteous, to get along to say nice things privately to one another,” Dolan [said on the Today Show](http://www.today.com/video/cardinal-dolan-reveals-touching-moments-between-trump-and-clinton-at-al-smith-dinner-790757955551 "undefined") Friday. While Dolan admitted Trump and Clinton could be “kind of awkward” together, he shared an interaction between them that he found “very touching.” Before the dinner began, he asked to pray with the two candidates. After the prayer, he said, “Mr. Trump turned to Secretary Clinton and said, ‘You know you are one tough and talented woman.’ And he said, ‘This has been a good experience in this whole campaign, as tough as it’s been.’ And she said to him, ‘Donald, whatever happens, we need to work together afterwards.'” But Dolan acknowledged that things weren’t so friendly once each candidate took the stage. “That amity that I just described maybe wasn’t as present during both addresses,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4540422/cardinal-dolan-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-al-smith/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4540422/cardinal-dolan-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-al-smith/"},"headline":"Trump and Clinton Said 'Nice Things Privately' at Dinner, Cardinal Says","datePublished":"2016-10-21T14:32:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:20:39.873Z","description":"Cardinal Dolan, who sat between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at the Al Smith dinner, said the candidates shared some \"touching moments.\"","url":"https://time.com/4540422/cardinal-dolan-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-al-smith/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt671c4f94741840b3/6988aafea988ca2ce56b9d82/clinton-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt671c4f94741840b3/6988aafea988ca2ce56b9d82/clinton-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Timonthy Dolan","caption":"Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Timonthy Dolan","creditText":"Andrew Harnik—AP","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":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4540422/cardinal-dolan-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-al-smith/","name":"Trump and Clinton Said 'Nice Things Privately' at Dinner, Cardinal Says"}}]}] ```