Donald Trump said someone from Fox News called him and apologized to him for riling him up and prompting him to blow off Thursday night’s Republican debate, but said by then, it was too late to return to the debate.
“I just didn’t think this was a fair process, and by the time they apologized, I said, ‘Look, the problem is we now have a big event scheduled,'” Trump said on CNN. Trump was referring to his veterans benefit event that he planned Thursday night, directly opposite the GOP event.
CNN asked him several times to confirm that Fox apologized.
“Yes. Fox could not have been nicer,” Trump said. He also said Fox made clear it respects him still, despite his long-running feud with the network and anchor Megyn Kelly in particular.
CNN asked yet again if he really got an apology. “Yes, and they could not have been nicer,” he said.
Later Fox released a statement saying Trump had offered to appear at the Republican debate on the condition that the network donate $5 million to his charities. Trump has argued for months that the networks are making tons of money on the debates, and that they should donate some to veterans charities or some other cause.
But Fox said it couldn’t agree to Trump’s request.
“Roger Ailes had three brief conversations with Donald Trump today about possibly appearing at the debate — there were not multiple calls placed by Ailes to Trump,” Fox’s statement said. “In the course of those conversations, we acknowledged his concerns about a satirical observation we made in order to quell the attacks on Megyn Kelly, and prevent her from being smeared any further.”
“Furthermore, Trump offered to appear at the debate upon the condition that Fox News contribute $5 million to his charities,” it added. “We explained that this was not possible and we could not engage in a quid pro quo, nor could any money change hands for any reason.”
Trump declined to say who called him up, but recent reports said Trump was only willing to talk with Fox owner Rupert Murdoch.
