Fox News's Roger Ailes threatened Donald Trump with feud over Megyn Kelly flap

Home Top

Mystery of Connecticut businessman and his wife who went missing after losing everything: One home was foreclosed on and another sold since husband fell millions of dollars in debt
'Godzilla El Niño is heading towards California': Latest survey suggests mega-weather event could be biggest since records began and bring with it some epic rain (but not enough to end the drought)
EXCLUSIVE: NFL murderer Aaron Hernandez's $1.3 million house and Hummer will be sold to pay compensation to mother of the friend he gunned down
EXCLUSIVE: Tech company which maintained Hillary's secret server was sued for 'illegally accessing' database and 'stealing White House military advisers' phone numbers'
Sesame Street fans will have to pay for new episodes - or wait nine months - as show moves to HBO
Now ISIS makes rape part of its religious doctrine claiming that Koran 'condones and encourages' attacking women if they are not Muslims
Stylish NY apartment made famous by Devil Wears Prada goes on the market with designer price-tag of $23,000 a month
Your genes WON'T make you wealthy: Becoming rich is more about nurture than nature, study finds
The secret to a lasting marriage? Being happy for one another! Brain scans reveal how strong couples share each other's joy
That's one lecture they won't forget! Australian student is caught by his classmates watching PORN when he forgets to plug in his headphones (or is the joke on them?)
Christian baker who refused to make a gay wedding cake cannot use his religious beliefs as a defense, court rules
Father of PGA Tour player Billy Hurley III dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound
Democrats panic over Clinton email scandal: Hillary campaign issues 4,000-word explanation of why she's innocent after it emerges her private server held secret CIA intelligence and satellite info
Obama unveils his 6-book summer reading list that covers Nazis, racism and mass extinction (but how will he read them with all that golf?)
Fox News chief threatened Trump with all-out feud amid Megyn Kelly flap and warned him: 'Resolve this now, or we can go to war'
'You're embarrassing the nation!' Sassy 13-year-old girl pens and performs caustic ballad slamming presidential candidate Donald Trump as a 'bully' and a 'chump'
Bill Clinton sends 'thoughts and prayers' to Jimmy Carter after he revealed his cancer diagnosis as Obama says he is 'rooting' for the former President
Clinton aide Huma Abedin STILL hasn't sworn under oath that she's turned over all her State Department emails
Genetic test proves President Harding DID father a love child with mistress who he would have sex with in a West Wing closet
Federal investigation launched into death of unarmed teen who was shot dead by police in South Carolina while on first date with girlfriend
Smart people live longer: 95% of the link between intelligence and longevity 'is down to good genes'
What a pest! Armies of biting ants infest vacationers' cars parked at airport garage
NYC mayor Bill de Blasio gave unadvertised $150k job to the girlfriend of one of his closest female aides
Disgraced teacher, 29, stunned as she is handed 10-year prison sentence for repeatedly having sex with a 15-year-old student

CNN is rewriting the story about how The Donald came back to Fox News after a four-day war last weekend
New version has Fox chief Roger Ailes delivering an ultimatum and warning Trump that he was running out of time to reach detente
Account clashes with what New York magazine has reported in stories that cast Trump as master negotiator and Ailes as white-flag-waver

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:02 EST, 13 August 2015 | Updated: 17:08 EST, 13 August 2015

View
comments

As a public feud over the first Republican primary debate threatened to boil over into all-out combat, Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes reportedly phoned candidate Donald Trump with an ultimatum: The two men could 'resolve this now, or we can go to war.'

That's the version of events reported Thursday by CNN, as the network's media reporter recounted the events that drove the crescendo of a prime-time skirmish nearly to the point of no return.

The August 6 debate's first questions were to Trump, 69, including one from Fox anchor Megyn Kelly about the billionaire's treatment of women, including 'disparaging comments about women's looks' on his Twitter page.

After the debate, Trump told reporters that 'the questions to me were not nice. I thought Megyn behaved very badly, personally.'

Cue the battle trumpets.

RESOLVE THIS NOW, OR IT'S WAR: CNN reports that Roger Ailes muscled Donald Trump into a detente following four days of mini-war surrounding the August 6 Republican debate and co-moderator Megyn Kelly

SUNDAY: Trump gave ratings-popping phone interviews to every major network with a weekend political talk show – except Fox

MONDAY: Trump's dismissive appearance on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' was followed by his phone call with Roger Ailes

Trump retweeted messages from fans saying that 'the biggest loser in the debate was @megynkelly' and calling her a 'bimbo.'

He added in his own voice that Kelly had 'really bombed tonight. People are going wild on twitter! Funny to watch.'

Reaction from women's groups was fast and furious. Trump's millions of partisans called figuratively for Kelly's head on a platter, believing she had intentionally tried to deliver a fatal blow to hsi White House aspirations.

And then came Friday. In an appearance with CNN's Don Lemon, Trump said the debate co-moderator had had 'blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her – wherever.

Ailes, famously for being fiercely protective of his on-air stars, was somewhere between 'apoplectic' and 'furious,' according to CNN.

But his network steered clear of reporting on the frenzy that ensued, despite the near-universal nationwide fascination with the comment – and Trump's denial that Kelly had let her monthly period make her hot-tempered and unreasonable.

CLASH: The Cleveland debate began with a skirmish between Kelly (left) and Trump (right) over his past comments about women

'It wasn't an attack': Megyn Kelly defends grilling Trump

THE EXCHANGE THAT STARTED IT ALL

Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly hammered Donald Trump during the Aug. 6 Republican primary debate in Cleveland, Ohio, launching a four-day mini media war between the billionaire and the top-rated cable news network.

Here is the exchange as it unfolded.

MEGYN KELLY: 'Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women. You've called women you don't like "fat pigs," "dogs," "slobs" and "disgusting animals." Your Twitter account –'

DONALD TRUMP: 'Only Rosie O'Donnell.' (APPLAUSE)

MEGYN KELLY: 'No, it wasn't. Your Twitter account –'

DONALD TRUMP: 'Thank you.'

MEGYN KELLY: 'For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell.'

DONALDTRUMP: 'Yes, I'm sure it was.'

MEGYN KELLY: 'Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who was likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?'

TRUMP: 'I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. (APPLAUSE) I've been challenged by so many people, and I don't frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don't win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody. And frankly, what I say, and oftentimes it's fun, it's kidding. We have a good time. What I say is what I say. And honestly Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn't do that.

The real estate tycoon was bumped from a conservative cattle-call event in Atlanta that Saturday over the 'blood' fracas, and a Fox News employee told DailyMail.com at the time that Trump 'has to be feeling some heat.'

The Donald dropped off Fox's radar entirely, appearing on every major Sunday morning political talk show that weekend except 'Fox News Sunday.'

Both sides wanted apologies. Neither would budge. But Trump's name is box-office gold – his star power helped draw an unprecedented 24 million viewers to the Cleveland debate – and Ailes wanted him back on Fox's air.

Tensions intensified Monday morning when Trump appeared on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program and said he still thought Kelly should fall on her sword.

'The fact is, she asked me a very inappropriate question,' he said. 'She should really be apologizing to me, you wanna know the truth,' he said during a phone-in interview.

'Others of the – if you wanna call them – candidates came up to me at that intermission and said "Boy, that was unfair what they did to you," and everyone felt that.'

Trump defends 'blood' comment about Megyn Kelly

TRUCE: Trump spun the peace as a white flag waved by Fox News in the direction of his campaign, but CNN tells the story the other way around

Trump's representatives have been tight-lipped about the content of the conversation between Ailes and the Republican front-runner that ensued, but The Donald may have seen the wisdom of burying the hatchet someplace other than in Kelly's forehead.

MEGYN STANDS FIRM AND STAYS ABOVE THE FRAY

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly refused to apologize Monday night at the top of her nightly show. (Scroll down for video.) Here's what she said:

'You may have heard that there was a dustup involving yours truly and presidential contender Donald Trump.

'Mr. Trump was upset with a question I asked him at the debate last week about his electability, and specifically comments he has made in the past about women.

'A few words on that: Apparently Mr. Trump thought the question I asked was unfair, and felt I was attacking him. I felt he was asked a tough but fair question. We agree to disagree.

'Mr. Trump did interviews over the weekend that attacked me personally. I've decided not to respond.

'Mr. Trump is an interesting man who has captured the attention of the electorate. That's why he's leading in the polls. Trump, who is the front-runner, will not apologize. And I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism.

'So I'll continue doing my job without fear or favor. And Mr. Trump, I expect, will continue with what has been a successful campaign thus far.

'This is a tough business, and it's time to move forward.'

Without Trump's face on its air, Fox would cede the daily drumbeat of what-will-he-say-next to its competitors.

And without Ailes, Trump would no longer be able to reach the legions of conservatives who tune in in massive numbers to watch Kelly, San Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Greta van Susteren, and other opinion-shapers.

Trump himself tweeted an update after the call ended between the two longtime friends.

'Roger Ailes just called,' he wrote. 'He is a great guy & assures me that “Trump” will be treated fairly on @FoxNews. His word is always good!'

Fox News put him back in its rotation the next morning with a 'Fox & Friends' appearance and an evening hit on 'Hannity,'

That led some to conclude that the detente was more of a massacre, with Trump the real victor.

But Kelly stayed classy, opening her evening show with a no-apologies monologue.

'Mr. Trump is an interesting man who has captured the attention of the electorate,' she told her audience. 'That's why he's leading in the polls.'

'Trump, who is the front-runner, will not apologize. And I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism.'

Tufts University politics professor Daniel Drezner wrote in The Washington Post that the legendary dealmaker may have leveraged his way back into Ailes' good graces by threatening to take his marbles and go home – or, worse, start up his own competing network.

'Give credit where it’s due,' Drezner concluded. 'Trump bargained with Fox News, Trump won, and it wasn’t close.'

CNN's report of an Ailes ultimatum diverges dramatically from others offered by New York magazine, including one that claimed the Fox boss 'called Trump "multiple" times yesterday morning “begging” him to tweet out that they had made peace.'

Another report from the mag claimed Trump had phoned Hannity during the four-day war, warning that 'that "he was never doing Fox again".'