In an interview with CNN, Trump said that Fox made a last-minute plea to get him on the debate stage. Trump said he wasn’t boycotting the debate over Megyn Kelly, but because a Fox press release—reportedly written by Fox chief Roger Ailes himself—made fun of him. Then Trump started to say, “By the time they apologized...” The CNN anchor cut in: “You got an apology?” “Yes and it could not have been nicer.” From whom? “I don’t want to say.”
Who could it be? We have a few guesses. New York reported that Fox chief Roger Ailes had called Trump on Tuesday and asked him to participate, and Trump refused. Ailes’s call to Ivanka Trump didn’t work either. Trump then said he would only listen to Rupert Murdoch himself.
Update: Fox issued a statement saying Ailes had “three brief conversations” with Trump, but did not make multiple calls. “In course of conversations we acknowledged his concerns” about the press release. Trump said he would go to the debate if Fox paid $5 million to his charities. Fox said no.