One of the longest-running soap operas on television is about to begin a new chapter.
Donald J. Trump has not appeared in a live interview on Fox News since April 2022, a nearly two-year period of coolness between the former president and the network whose airwaves he once relied on to cement his status atop the right. US.
In that period, all of Trump’s interviews on Fox News were pre-recorded, a notable precaution for a network that paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit fueled by the former president’s mendacious claims about the 2020 election. will change Wednesday, when Trump will appear live on the network for a town hall in Des Moines ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
The relationship between Trump and the Rupert Murdoch-owned network has featured more drama than a season of “Real Housewives.” But Wednesday’s event isn’t just a turning point and potential ratings winner for Fox News: It’s also the former president’s first live interview on any major news network since he appeared on CNN last May, an event that drew harsh criticism for the volume and speed of its unfiltered false claims.
Trump hasn’t exactly been silenced. He declined invitations from several networks to participate in live Republican primary debates. And he has agreed to numerous pre-recorded interviews, including an appearance on NBC in September that also caused complaints from viewers who chastised the network for giving him a platform.
His relationship with Fox News, however, is especially complicated. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago when parts of the network seemed to be moving forward.
In 2022, Fox News disparaged Trump’s rallies while offering admiring coverage of a rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. After Trump announced in November 2022 that he would run for president again, the network kept Trump off its airwaves for five full months. When Trump returned last March for a taped interview with Sean Hannity, he received a cool reception from other Fox hosts; a network collaborator called his appearance “absolutely horrible.”
The snubs angered Trump, who has harbored resentment toward Fox for its early screening of Arizona for Joseph R. Biden Jr. on election night 2020. Over the past year, the former president hurled crude insults at Murdoch and denounced Fox as “ fake news” and “hostile” in posts on Truth Social, their preferred social media platform. He also complained to allies that the network bungled in settling the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, saying it offered ammunition to other potential litigants.
In an interview, Bret Baier, Fox News’ chief political host who moderates Wednesday’s event along with host Martha MacCallum, did not hesitate to acknowledge the volatility of the relationship.
“We’re one Truth Social post away from feeling something different,” he said.
Despite the caution, both sides found reasons to agree to Wednesday’s meeting.
Judging by his poll numbers, many conservatives remain enthralled with Trump, and keeping the potential Republican nominee at arm’s length would erode Fox News’ credibility with a core audience. While Trump has told confidants of his that he believes Fox News has lost some influence among Republican voters, it remains the The best reviews Cable network and home to influential conservatives such as Hannity and Jesse Watters.
Furthermore, the town hall gives Trump the opportunity to attack both his presidential rivals and one of his media bêtes noires: CNN.
CNN had previously announced that it would sponsor a Republican debate in Iowa on the same night, in the same city, at the same time (9 pm ET). DeSantis and Nikki Haley, Trump’s closest rivals in state polls, will be in that debate, but Trump boycotted. Fox’s town hall allows it to deflect attention and potentially score a ratings victory over CNN, which would also please Fox News.
Given the hectic nature of a presidential campaign, Wednesday’s broadcast is unlikely to represent a lasting detente. A person with direct knowledge of interactions between the Trump camp and Fox News, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the relationship remains frosty.
The televisions on Trump’s plane once constantly broadcast Fox News, but that is no longer the case, the person said. The former president often requests to watch Hannity’s show, but sometimes prefers Newsmax, particularly its host Greg Kelly, an old acquaintance in New York political circles. Trump remains a fan of Hannity (and Watters and Maria Bartiromo), but he has become angry with “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy, whom recently described as “not as nice as I should be.”
Baier said he had carefully courted Trump in recent weeks, pitching him the idea of holding a town hall over the phone and at least once in person at his Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago.
“It’s not easy,” he said of the efforts needed to convince Trump to give an interview. He said he encouraged the former president to answer “difficult but fair” questions live.
“This is making the playoffs,” Baier said. “This is a time when voters need to see it live, in person, when this happens.”
So what happens if Trump repeats his baseless claim that the 2020 election was rigged on live television?
“We are ready to face it,” Baier said, noting that questioned Mr. Trumpclaims when the topic came up in their pre-recorded interview last June. “But if he spends all his time at City Hall dealing with 2020 and not talking about what he wants to do as president, he has other problems.” (At that time, Mr. Trump I wasn’t excited about Mr. Baier’s real-time fact-checking, calling it “disgusting”).
For Baier, the next person on his list for a live, unfiltered interview is President Biden. “We have received a request every two weeks from South Carolina, when candidate Joe Biden won the primary,” he said. “We would love to do a town hall with the president. “We would do it in a heartbeat.”
jonathan swan contributed reports.
