--- description: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are finally set to face off on the same stage for the first time in their heated race for the White House. title: Presidential Debate Livestream: Watch Clinton vs. Trump Free image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6eb60aab0206d3ed/6988a76c428a9e3631cd4619/clinton_trump_debate.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 * [Debates](/tag/debates/) ## Debates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Live: The Presidential Debate Between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 26, 2016 2:07 PM CUT  A group of Hofstra University students stand in front of a CNN trailer with images of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, Sept. 25, 2016. A group of Hofstra University students stand in front of a CNN trailer with images of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, Sept. 25, 2016.Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 26, 2016 2:07 PM CUT After months sniping at each other from a safe distance, [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4504482/presidential-debate-how-donald-trump-defeat-hillary-clinton/?xid=homepage "undefined") and [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4504456/presidential-debate-how-hillary-clinton-defeat-donald-trump/?xid=homepage "undefined") are [finally set to face off on the same stage for the first time](http://time.com/4505999/presidential-debate-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-hofstra/?xid=homepage "undefined") Monday in their heated race for the White House. [The first presidential debate](http://time.com/4504630/presidential-debate-clinton-trump-watch-how-online/ "undefined") of the general election season is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated, and highly-watched, televised debate in modern American politics. [Some expect more than 100 million Americans to tune in](http://fortune.com/2016/09/25/trump-clinton-debate-ratings/ "undefined"). The debate, moderated by NBC News anchor Lester Holt and hosted by Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., is scheduled to start at [9 p.m. E.T.](http://time.com/money/4506220/presidential-election-debates-how-to-watch/ "undefined") You can watch it live above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4506982/presidential-debate-livestream-free-online/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4506982/presidential-debate-livestream-free-online/"},"headline":"Watch Live: The Presidential Debate Between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-09-26T14:07:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:48:47.579Z","description":"Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are finally set to face off on the same stage for the first time in their heated race for the White House.","url":"https://time.com/4506982/presidential-debate-livestream-free-online/","keywords":["Debates","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6eb60aab0206d3ed/6988a76c428a9e3631cd4619/clinton_trump_debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6eb60aab0206d3ed/6988a76c428a9e3631cd4619/clinton_trump_debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clinton_trump_debate","caption":"A group of Hofstra University students stand in front of a CNN trailer with images of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, Sept. 25, 2016.","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/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":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4506982/presidential-debate-livestream-free-online/","name":"Watch Live: The Presidential Debate Between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump"}}]}] ```