Trump won't say if he'll accept election result

The debate ends as the candidates are given a few minutes to make their final pitch.

Mrs Clinton's populist touch is that she will oppose the powerful while Mr Trump opts to speak out for veterans, police and the jobless. 

As the wind up approaches, Mr Trump returns to his campaign theme of making America great again – at least as an economic power. His opponent asks when was it last great? 

She comes up with an alternative to "trickle down" tax cuts with something she calls "middle out growth" with the middle class leading an economic expansion.

Mrs Clinton holds her ground while Mr Trump flails as details of the Middle East conflict are discussed and Mr Wallace seeks some clear statement what the US could do next there and how to deal with refugees from Aleppo.

Sunni or Shiite – it doesn't seem to count in political debate. Mrs Clinton correctly says Mosul is a Sunni city and wants to "take" Raqqa (in Syria) while Mr Trump sees Mosul as a win for Shiite Iran when, or if, it falls to Iraqi forces. The US has no authority from Syria to overthrow Isis from Raqqa.

In the final lap, the debate returns full circle to "foreign hot spots" and in particular Isis, the Islamic State, and the Syrian conflict.

Mrs Clinton wants an "intelligent surge" to defeat the jihadists' threat at home and abroad, while Mr Trump says the Isis leaders have already left Mosul because "there's no element of surprise."

Mosul will eventually be a "gift" to Iran but the Isis leaders will remain at large, he says. 

Mr Trump defends his attack on the "corrupt media" and doesn't rule out whether he will accept the election result, which he has claimed will be "rigged."

"I will look at it at the time," he says. 

Morals and donations
The Clinton Foundation comes under scrutiny as Mr Wallace probes Mrs Clinton's fund-raising from financiers and foreign donors in return for political favours. 

She turns this into a scoring point over Mr Trump's tax returns, which still not been made public.

Who is the fittest to be president? This perennial staple of the debates brings up attacks on Mr Trump's morality and Mrs Clinton's public record.

The comments are not new but are commendably restrained, with neither candidate going for a low blow. "Nobody has more respect for women," Mr Trump says before he goes on to raise the email scandal that has dogged Mrs Clinton throughout the campaign.

She, in turn, produces a litany of Mr Trump's "pattern of divisiveness and dangerous vision" that incites conflict and violence

Economy, taxes and trade
"You talk but never do anything," is the worse retort Mr Trump has fired at Mrs Clinton, wondering where $US6 million disappeared from the State Department on her watch.

Mrs Clinton repeats her opposition to the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), saying she will still oppose it after the election.

Mr Trump burnishes his business credentials with a critique of America's "low growth" economy, while also emphasising the loss of jobs from the Nafta (North American free trade agreement).

Mr Wallace finally steers the debate into domestic issues on the economy and taxes, or "jobs and growth."

Mr Trump repeats his call for America's "allies" to pay their way and take on more defence responsibilities while saying he will do "more free trade" than ever, while cutting taxes and abolishing the deal with Mexico.

Mrs Clinton also restates her position on the economy – "The plan I have will produce greater opportunities, the plan he [Mr Trump] has will cost us jobs and possibility lead to another great recession," she says, again adding Mr Trump's tax cuts are "trickle down on steroids."

Foreign policy and immigration
Wider foreign policy issues come into focus with Mr Trump accusing Mrs Clinton of being a "liar" as secretary of state and she again saying Mr Trump can't be trusted with the "nuclear button."

The debate sparks into life as Mr Wallace tries to shut down mention of the Russian hacking of Mrs Clinton's emails while Mr Trump seizes on claims he is President Putin's "puppet" to point how the Russians have "outsmarted" the Democratic administration in Syria. 

After half an hour, the candidates have stuck to their scripts, and the questions, by restraining from interrupting each other and allowing a civilised conversation between two quite different approaches to dealing with illegal immigration.

The discussion allows each candidate to reinforce their positions, with Mr Wallace pressing Mrs Clinton on her border control policies, while Mr Trump defends his "wall" to keep out Mexicans. "We've got some bad hombres here and we want to get them out."

Mrs Clinton goes much softer, saying families must be kept together, even among the 11 million "undocumented" migrants living in the US. She also says Mr Trump's policies are unenforceable and would "rip the country apart."

Abortion and gun laws
Voters have been given a clear choice on America's gun laws and abortion with both candidates diverging into clearly delineated liberal and conservative positions, Mr Trump saying he will appoint "pro-life" candidates to the Supreme Court while Mrs Clinton is backing the Roe v Wade ruling, which is under challenge.

Moderator Chris Wallace puts his first question on the Supreme Court to Mrs Clinton, who says the court should stand up for all Americans and not just "dark, powerful money."

Mr Trump takes a more conservative approach that the court should uphold the second amendment (gun ownership) and the founders' principles.

The audience at the University of Nevada have been warned they are "guests" and not participants, so no cheering or jeering is allowed.

Earlier
The third and final US presidential debate gives Republican nominee Donald Trump his last chance to address tens of millions of voters and narrow the wide lead his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has in the polls.

The format reverts to that of the first debate and will be held in Las Vegas moderated by Chris Wallace, of Fox News.

Mr Trump had closed the gap with Mrs Clinton heading into the first debate on September 22 but his unfocused and uneven performance saw her lead increase.

He struggled to land a single blow on Mrs Clinton while the second debate opened with a bitter back-and-forth over various alleged indiscretions and perceived ethical lapses.

Many of Mr Trump’s relatively substantive criticisms and Mrs Clinton’s record were overshadowed by his threat to jail her if he is elected.

A record 84 million watched the first debate but it fell to 66 million for the second town-hall style debate in St. Louis on October 3.

But the earlier release of a 2005 videotape showing him bragging about groping women and subsequent claims about his sexual behaviour have failed to move the polls in his favour. Mrs Clinton still has a seven-point advantage in one consensus of polls.

Her campaign officials say today’s debate format will lend itself to sharper exchanges than the town-hall setting, with the candidates behind podiums speaking to a moderator rather than to voters in the audience.

In recent days, Mr Trump has tried to introduce new messages into his campaign. He has promoted term limits on members of Congress and temporary lobbying bans on legislative and executive-branch workers.

He also called for pre-debate drug tests, offered dire warnings about voter fraud and attacked his party’s top elected official, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is now Mr Trump’s main rival within the Republican Party.