FORMER US PRESIDENT Donald Trump is reportedly planning to give the first Republican presidential primary debate a miss on Wednesday, opting for a sit down interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson instead. 

The New York Times is reporting that in the past 24 hours, Trump has told those close to him that he won’t be participating in the debate, which is due to take place in Milwaukee. 

Trump himself somewhat mysteriously hinted that this may be the case on his website, when he wrote a message to followers that said: “Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?”

The debate is taking place on the cable network Fox News. Eight candidates have qualified to take part in it, and it will last for two hours. 

The candidates who have met the requirements to appear on stage are Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum and Mike Pence. 

The candidates are to be placed on stage according to how they are doing in the polls, with the highest polling in the centre. 

However, if Trump sticks to his guns and doesn’t show up, it will be Ron DeSantis taking centre stage, with Vivek Ramaswamy possibly taking second place, after a recent surge in the polls. 

Trump hasn’t released any details of a possible interview with Tucker Carlson, who left his show at Fox News earlier this year. 

Trump’s seemingly last minute decision not to attend the Fox News debate comes after his fourth criminal indictment, from the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney, who accused him of taking part in a criminal conspiracy to subvert the transfer of power after Joe Biden won the 2020 election in the state. 

The Milwaukee debate is set to be co-presented by Fox anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier. The candidates won’t have the opportunity to give opening statements, but they will get the chance to make closing remarks. The debate is to have a traditional format, with the moderators putting the questions on the big issues directly to the candidates. 

It has been reported that both Fox News executives and members of the R.N.C have lobbied Trump to take part in the debate, and that he previously gave him the impression that he would, but now it appears that he has firmly changed his mind.