Trump to skip Republican presidential debate for Tucker Carlson show

Former U.S. president Donald Trump will skip the first Republican primary debate next week and will instead sit for an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Trump has taken a will-he-or-won't-he approach to the debate for weeks, arguing that his massive polling lead over the rest of the Republican primary field should effectively exempt him from participating in the forum. He had said that he would make a final decision on the debate this week.

A spokesperson for Trump's campaign declined to confirm the decision.

The first GOP debate is set to take place in Milwaukee next week. So far, at least eight candidates have met the Republican National Committee's participation criteria, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who's seen as the most serious challenger to Trump.

Another 2024 contender, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, said on Friday that he had qualified for the debate stage, but the RNC has disputed that claim.

Trump's decision to forego the debate in favor of an interview with Carlson, a conservative commentator and close ally, is a blow to Fox News, which is hosting the first debate. He attended a private dinner earlier this month with network executives, who lobbied him to attend the debate.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has also privately urged Trump to attend the debate.

Even if he had agreed to participate in the debate, there was one other obstacle standing in the way. Trump said last week that he would not sign an RNC-sanctioned pledge to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee — a prerequisite for the debate.

That hadn't stopped Trump from teasing the possibility of showing up. At a recent campaign rally in New Hampshire, he floated a question to the audience about whether he should debate, before saying "maybe we'll do something else."

Both Trump and his allies have repeatedly downplayed the importance of the first debate, given that the former president leads his closest rival in the 2024 GOP primary by double-digits and remains deeply popular among the party's conservative voter base.

In an interview with the TV network NewsNation last month, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump's campaign, said that Trump's standing in the Republican primary should earn him the opportunity to sit the first debate out.

"I think in many ways it's similar to getting a bye in the first round of the NFL playoffs," Miller said. "If you essentially have an undefeated season — say you're 17-and-0 — and all the other teams are maybe four wins or five wins on the season, you shouldn't have to worry about playing them in the first round."

Trump had raised doubts about appearing at the debate in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday.

"As everyone is aware, my Poll numbers, over a 'wonderful' field of Republican candidates, are extraordinary. In fact, I am leading the runner up, whoever that may be now, by more than 50 points," Trump wrote. "People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?"

Trump's Republican opponents have sought for weeks to coax him into the debate. DeSantis' campaign has accused Trump of trying to come up with excuses not to show up, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a one-time Trump ally, has said that the former president is "afraid" to debate.