‘The View’ EP Brian Teta Says Donald Trump “Declined” Appearances In 2016 And 2020: “We Stopped Asking”

The View is known for its riveting political conversations, many of which include the key players in politics today. Now that we are in an election year, the show is gearing up to cover what will likely be the dreaded rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. While the show’s executive producer Brian Teta said he “expects” Biden to pay a visit to the Hot Topics table at some point, he also revealed that they “stopped asking” Trump to do the same.

During Trump’s presidency, his son Donald Trump Jr. and former advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle appeared on The View, Teta noted in a recent interview with Deadline. Plus, Trump himself has been on “many times before he was president,” including the time he did a phone interview with the co-hosts in 2015.

However, the EP wasn’t exactly convinced that Trump would be popping in during this election cycle.

“We’ve invited Trump to join us at the table for both 2016 and 2020 elections, and he declined, and at a certain point, we stopped asking,” he said. “So I don’t anticipate that changing. I think he’s pretty familiar with how the co-hosts feel about him and doesn’t see himself coming here.”

As far as welcoming any of the Republican presidential hopeful’s surrogates onto the show, Teta said they are taking it “case by case” — and the same goes for whether they would invite any other Trump supporters to make an appearance.

“The way we book the show, the way that we’ve figured all this out, it’s always kind of a conversation where we consider what’s best for the show and what the conversation would be like with the co-hosts,” Teta explained. “There’s nothing really off the table, which is one of the great things about the show. But we kind of consider every opportunity individually.”

When it came to searching for Meghan McCain‘s replacement, Teta added that they “made the choice not to consider election deniers” for the job, which helped them land on Republicans Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro as the permanent co-hosts.

“I think it’s important to have all voices at our table that the audience can see themselves in, or see a perspective of, or understand perspective they don’t have,” he said. “The great thing about Alyssa Farah Griffin, who joined almost two years ago now, is she worked for the Trump administration. She was in the room at a lot of key points that were we’ve been talking about.”

Teta continued, “So I think while she’s not a Trump supporter, she has an understanding of the appeal of Trump. She has an understanding of Trump voters. And she can speak to that often.”

While Trump might not be landing another interview on The View, Teta teased that they are currently working with the White House to get Biden on the show.

“I think he will be on,” Teta said. “We’re in contact with the White House. We don’t have anything to announce yet. But my hope and really my expectation is that he’ll be here during the election.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.