On a cool August night on the crowded patio of his private club in New Jersey, former President Donald Trump held up his phone to his dinner companions.
The Republican front-runner was having dinner with a Fox News contributor and columnist, Charlie Hurt, when a call came in from another member of the Fox team. The man on the other end of the line, Trump was delighted to show his guests, was Bret Baier, one of the two moderators of the first Republican debate Wednesday, according to two people with knowledge of the call.
Upstaging Fox’s biggest event of the year would be provocation enough. But an interview with Carlson — who was Fox’s top-rated prime-time host and is at war with the network, which is still paying out his contract — amounts to a slap in the network’s face by Trump. The decision is a potential source of aggravation for the Republican National Committee chair, Ronna McDaniel, who privately urged him to attend, including during her own visit to Bedminster last month.
The Fox team working on the debate has prepared two sets of plans for Wednesday night: one for if Trump shows up and another for if he doesn’t. Baier has spoken to Trump at least four times over the phone to make his case. Trump has explained his reluctance but always left the door open to a late change of plans, according to the people familiar with the calls.
Trump, who has often complained about what he contends is Fox’s glowing coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, dismissed a recent interview Baier conducted with DeSantis as “soft.” Trump also told the Fox executives he couldn’t believe they had fired Carlson. But until earlier this past week, Trump was still privately toying with the idea of attending. In one conversation, Trump had said, “Maybe I should just go,” according to a person with knowledge of the call.
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