JUST IN: Trump Has ‘Apparently Changed His Mind’ on Fox News Debate Ultimatum, Per Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey

After issuing an ultimatum to Vice President Kamala Harris over a Fox News debate in lieu of a previously agreed ABC News debate, former President Donald Trump is reportedly open to returning to ABC or proposing a new debate with NBC News.

This notable shift in debate negotiations comes from Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey, who is about as well-sourced and reliable as any political reporter covering such topics.

Last Friday evening, Trump announced he was backing out of a debate with Harris scheduled for September 10th and said that he had “agreed with” Fox News for a different event (and format) for September 4th. Fox News had invited both candidates for a September 17th debate and never agreed —or even responded — to Trump’s September 4th claim.

The Harris campaign immediately said no to Trump’s Fox News September 4th pitch and called Trump scared to agree to the ABC News debate to which his team had agreed. Trump surrogates incorrectly claimed that since the debate had been previously agreed with then-candidate President Joe Biden, the debate agreement was null and void. The ABC News debate qualification stipulation, however, was not between any candidates by name but by nominees of respective Democrat and Republican parties. Name-calling and recriminations emerged from both parties against their rivals.

But during a Wednesday morning appearance on Fox & Friends, Trump left open the possibility of still appearing on the ABC News debate, which appears to have been confirmed by Dawsey’s report from Thursday morning:

Dawsey reports for The Washington Post:

Now, Trump is likely to return to ABC News or propose a debate on NBC News with Univision, according to people close to him who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations.

These people expect his proposal in the coming days and potentially as early as Thursday afternoon.

Both networks are interested in the debate, along with others, the people familiar with the matter said. Trump has discussed both networks with advisers, they said.

“President Trump consistently talks about the issues that matter the most to voters, and he’s ready to do so on a debate stage. It’s Kamala Harris who is afraid to take tough questions and speak to voters without using a teleprompter,” said Danielle Alvarez, a Trump spokeswoman.

So, what has changed in Trump’s debate participation calculus? It’s hard to know for certain, but in the 18 days since Kamala Harris ostensibly became the Democratic nominee, she has effectively wiped out Trump’s sizable lead in the polls, and in some, even overtaken him. That is always motivation to have a debate with your opponent, especially one enjoying the sort of momentum keeping her away from any press event or interview.

Oh, and Trump has also announced a 2 PM press event, which had at least one former Senior Aide under his White House see as evidence “he’s panicking.”

UPDATE:

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that he has agreed to three debates with his Democratic counterpart Kamala Harris this fall at a press conference on Thursday.

“I think it’s very important to have debates, and we’ve agreed with Fox on a date of September 4. We’ve agreed with NBC, fairly full agreement subject to them, on September 10. And we’ve agreed with ABC on September 25,” began Trump.

Moments after Trump made the announcement, ABC News’ Rick Klein confirmed that Trump had agreed to the previously scheduled debate on the network, which is actually set to take place on September 10.

He continued:

So we have those three dates and, but those networks, they’re very anxiously awaiting that date and those dates. So we have September 4, September 10, and September 25. We have spoken to the heads of the network and it’s all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details: audience, some location, which city would we put it into? But all things that will be settled very easily.

I think it will be very easy. The other side has to agree to the terms, they may or may not agree. I don’t know if they’re going to agree. She hasn’t done an interview, she can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent and she can’t do an interview. But I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight.

Trump and President Joe Biden debated each other in June, but Trump initially pulled out of an ABC debate after Harris took Biden’s spot on top of the ticket.

On Wednesday, Trump seemed to open the door back up to the ABC debate during an appearance on Fox News.

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