Donald Trump Announces He’s Not Participating in Fox News’ Republican Presidential Debate: “The Public Knows Who I Am”

Just days before Fox News is set to host the first Republican presidential debate, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will not be participating in the event.

Trump made the surprising announcement in a post shared to his social media platform, Truth Social.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” he wrote, per Deadline. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

The Republican debate is set to occur in Milwaukee on Wednesday (Aug. 23).

His statement did not clarify whether he was only talking about this week’s presidential debate, or if he will be skipping all debates moving forward.

The party frontrunner pointed to the polls as yet another reason not to attend the debates, stating he’s polling ahead of his opponents by “legendary” numbers.

“New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by ‘legendary’ numbers,” he wrote in a social media post, shading his fellow Republican candidates, including Ron DeSantis. “TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!)”

The post continues, “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel said during a recent appearance on Fox News that she hoped he would still attend the debate, despite his incendiary social media posts.

“I’m still holding out hope that President Trump will come. I think it’s so important that the American people hear from all the candidates,” she said.

Trump participated in a town hall held by CNN this past May, in which Kaitlan Collins attempted to challenge his claims about the election being stolen and his ability to take documents that are property of the federal government.

“The election was not rigged, Mr. President,” Collins told him during the forum as the audience cheered at his claims. “You can’t keep saying that all night long.”

CNN caught major flack for their lack of pushback and fact checking throughout Trump’s town hall, so much so that CEO Chris Licht was let go from the network soon after.

The first GOP presidential debate will air on Fox News Media’s platforms this Wednesday, Aug. 23 at 9/8c.