Former President Trump confirmed on Sunday that he won’t be taking part in the first Republican primary debate happening this week.
It’s not immediately clear if this means he won’t join any of the currently planned debates, including the one in September, or if he won’t be part of any future debates at all. One of Trump’s advisors told CNN that he might still decide to join a later primary debate despite his statement on Truth Social.
Trump has told his allies that he doesn’t want to debate at the Reagan Library, where the second debate is scheduled. He has also mentioned in private conversations that he’s never been invited to speak there, partly blaming Fred Ryan, who is the chairman of the board of trustees and was previously the CEO of the Washington Post.
The primary debate set for Wednesday is the first in the 2024 election cycle. Former President Trump has been considering skipping it for a while, given that he’s leading in the polls. There’s talk that he might do an interview with former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson instead.
Even though Republican officials have been trying to convince him to participate, Trump decided not to join. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel expressed her hope that Trump would take part, emphasizing the importance of hearing from all candidates.
In recent weeks, Ronna McDaniel and David Bossie, who oversees the RNC debate committee, visited Trump at his home to encourage him to participate. However, Trump didn’t commit to any plans during their meeting.
Fox News President Jay Wallace and CEO Suzanne Scott also encouraged Trump to be part of the debate.
To qualify for the debate, candidates need a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors per state. They also need to reach at least 1% in three national polls that meet the RNC’s requirements, or 1% in two national polls and two polls from early voting states.
Candidates are also expected to sign a pledge showing their commitment to support the final Republican nominee, no matter who it is.
So far, several candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Gov. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have all qualified.
