Trump will skip the GOP debate and attend a fundraiser instead
As his Republican rivals struggle for attention during the fourth GOP debate next week, Donald J. Trump will once again be absent from the stage.
Instead, Mr. Trump, the party’s frontrunner for president, will attend a fundraiser for his super PAC, MAGA Inc., in Hallandale Beach, Florida, next Wednesday, according to two people familiar with his plans.
The private event is a departure from Trump’s activities at the three previous Republican National Committee debates this year. Mr. Trump did not attend any of these debates either, but he organized public counter-programming events to draw attention to his own campaign. He and his aides have cited his dominant lead in the polls by calling on the RNC to cancel future debates — a suggestion that committee members have not honored.
Trump, behaving in the style of an incumbent president, continues to outpace his nearest rivals by more than 40 percentage points in most national polls. His absence from the previous debates has not affected his support, even though some of his rivals have criticized his absence directly from the podium.
During the first debate in August, Mr. Trump promoted a taped interview with Tucker Carlson. In September, he spoke at a non-union plant in Michigan during the auto union strike. And this month he held a rally in Hialeah, Florida, where he called the third debate, which took place less than 15 miles away, a waste of time.
The fourth debate, to be held next Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is one of the last chances for the Republican candidates to build momentum before the early primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire in January. This cycle is expected to feature the smallest lineup: several candidates who attended previous debates have dropped out of the race, and those who remain face higher demands to make the stage.
Candidates for the fourth debate must have a minimum of 80,000 unique donors, compared to 70,000 donors for the most recent debate. They will also need to reach 6 percent — up from 4 percent — in two national polls or in one national poll and one poll in one of the four early states.
The official line-up for the debate has not yet been announced. But three candidates other than Mr. Trump are expected to be considered: Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida; Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador; and Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur.
Trump has become personally involved in the push to cancel the remaining debates, aggressively pressuring Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, according to people briefed on the matter. She refused this.
Maggie Haberman reporting contributed.