Donald Trump suggests CNN pay him $5 million or he'll boycott next GOP debate

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

last updated 1 December 2015

At a campaign rally in Macon, Georgia, on Monday night, Donald Trump toyed with demanding a $5 million payment to appear at the next Republican presidential debate. The reason? CNN, which is hosting the debate on Dec. 15, "doesn't treat me properly," Trump said. During the last GOP debate the news network hosted, he added, "CNN had 23 million people. It was the biggest show in the history of CNN." That gives the master negotiator the upper hand, at least in his estimation.

"How about I tell CNN that I'm not gonna do the next debate?" Trump proposed to the crowd. That got "tepid applause" from the crowd of about 6,000, NBC News says, so Trump elaborated, to cheers: "I won’t do the debate unless they pay me $5 million, all of which money goes to the Wounded Warriors or go to vets." He went on to say that people who are "really, really, really smart like I am" don't need a teleprompter and that he doesn't listen to "talking heads, who are not smart people at all."

It's an interesting idea, that CNN needs Trump more than Trump needs CNN, and there are probably at least nine rival campaigns who hope Trump carries through with his threat to boycott the event. If he does, Trump told the crowd, "they'll say 'Trump is chicken.'... One thing I'm not is chicken, okay?" Okay. You can watch Trump's comments at RealClearPolitics.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.