Former President Donald Trump said he has already made his decision about whether he will attend the first Republican presidential primary debate on Aug. 23 and will “be announcing something next week.”
The 45th president told Newsmax host Eric Bolling that has hasn’t “totally ruled it out,” but insisted he would not abide by the GOP’s requirement that candidates sign a loyalty pledge.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have? I wouldn’t have certain people as you know, somebody that I would endorse,” Trump said, though he did not elaborate.
“I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president, so right there, there’s a problem," he added.
Bolling tried to get Trump to disclose who those candidates are, but the former president declined to specify.
“There’s no reason to insult them,” Trump said.
Donald Trump on the GOP debate pledge: "I have a problem with the debate for another reason. I wouldn't sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge?" pic.twitter.com/EWyH3wBEij
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) August 10, 2023
He has previously noted his comfortable lead in the polls as a reason he could skip the debate, a point he reiterated in the interview.
“Well, when you’re at 75, 78, 80 percent, and other guys are 0, 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent, you do say, ‘What’s the upside? Am I gonna go up one point?'” Trump said. “But they could go up, you know. They’re not dumb people. They’re senators. They’re governors. They’re intelligent people. You have some very good people.”