Donald Trump says Fox News boss Roger Ailes “couldn’t have been nicer” when the two men spoke by phone recently to resolve a multi-day dispute.
Trump is refuting a story published by CNNMoney earlier this week that said days of tension between his campaign and Fox News ended with a “very blunt” talk between the two men.
At one point in the phone call, according to anonymous sources, Ailes said to Trump, we “can resolve this now, or we can go to war.”
In an interview for Newsmax TV, host Steve Malzberg asked Trump about the quote, and Trump said “that story was a false story.”
“Roger knows that’s not the way to talk to me, because if people talk to me that way, you know what happens,” Trump said.
“That was not Roger,” Trump added. “It’s not the way he deals with me.”
The CNNMoney story relied on sources from both sides who asked to remain anonymous. Spokeswomen for Trump and Ailes declined to comment at the time.
At the crux of the dispute was tough questioning by Fox moderators at the first GOP presidential debate. Trump thought the questions, particularly from Fox host Megyn Kelly, were unfair.
Kelly began a 10-day vacation after her Wednesday night broadcast. Some bloggers and commentators have circulated theories that Kelly has been sidelined as a result of the Trump dispute. Fox, however, says the vacation was planned well ahead of time.
In the interview with Malzberg, Trump indicated that he was inclined to believe the theories.
“There probably was” a connection, he said. “But I wouldn’t know about it.”
“I hope she comes back and she’s going to be fair and good. And I’m sure that’ll happen,” Trump said. “And I’m sure Roger will make it happen because he’s a fair guy and he wants things to run smoothly.”
He added, “So yes, people were very very surprised that all of a sudden she decided to go away for 10 or 11 or 12 days, but that’s okay. Some people make those quick decisions.”
Trump also revealed that he had multiple phone calls with Ailes leading up to what’s been described a tenuous truce between he and Fox.
Previously he had only confirmed a Monday morning call, which resulted in Tuesday interviews on Fox with Steve Doocy and Sean Hannity.
CNNMoney’s story previously said that there were numerous calls “between Trump aides and Bill Shine, one of Ailes’ top lieutenants” over the weekend.
But Trump told Malzberg that Ailes “called me up on a Saturday, and he said, ‘How do we get this thing solved?'”
This matches the timeline that sources described earlier this week. Ailes thought the two sides had reached an understanding by Sunday night — that Trump would stop attacking Kelly and Fox — and Ailes was furious when Trump went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday morning and said he thought Kelly should apologize to him.
According to the sources, Ailes then called Trump and had the heated but brief conversation that resulted in the “truce.”
There are benefits for both sides to cordial relations: Trump gains access to Fox’s big right-leaning audience and Trump boosts ratings for Fox.
But tensions remain high between the two sides. Trump allies have leaked unflattering claims about Ailes and some Fox staffers have privately likened Trump to a crazy person. Officials at the network acknowledge that Trump has to be handled delicately, given how unpredictable and combustible he is.
The Friday interview with Newsmax shows that Trump is still upset with how he was treated at the debate.
Along with saying Kelly’s question to him was inappropriate, he said there was “hatred” in a question from another moderator, Chris Wallace.
Trump indicated that that’s partly why he spurned an interview request from Wallace and agreed to sit down this Sunday with Wallace’s rival Sunday morning host Chuck Todd of NBC.