Here's what we know about Trump's debate decision

It’s the question of the month: Will Donald Trump appear on the debate stage alongside his 2024 GOP presidential foes, or will he sit this one out?

There are pros and cons to both options — some of which the former president, who enjoys a commanding lead over his fellow Republican candidates, has already vocalized himself. It “could be stupid” to participate, he told Breitbart last week.

In typical Trump fashion, the suspense is likely to build up until shortly before the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee. A Trump campaign official told Playbook that “he’s unlikely to attend the debate, but he hasn’t said 100 percent definitively.” The official, like others quoted in this report, was granted anonymity to speak openly.

On the other hand, Playbook heard that Trump told the Fox and Republican National Convention executives he just might do it. Candidates have until 48 hours before the debate to indicate if they’ll participate.

Let’s make it make sense:

Cons to joining the debate

It’s entirely possible that Trump will be snacking on popcorn while watching the debate from Mar-A-Lago — or possibly from the audience to spook his opponents, as he’s suggested — and plenty of voices agree that it’s the smart move.

His entire inner campaign circle is skeptical of Trump taking the stage, and as POLITICO columnist Jack Shafer summed up, “a person shouldn’t eat when he’s not hungry, drink when he’s not thirsty or debate when he’s already won.”

In other words, the Republican debate is already over in many observers’ eyes. That’s seemingly how Trump feels, too: He wrote on Truth Social that the other candidates should debate so that he can “see who I MIGHT consider for Vice President!”

“When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” Trump told Fox News in July, referring to the debate.

It’s also possible that Trump’s legal woes will keep him off the debate stage. A GOP source who has communicated with the Trump team told Playbook there is “real concern that he could put himself in more legal jeopardy by going to the debate and getting goaded into saying something dumb.”

On the other hand, a person close to the Trump campaign told Playbook that none of his attorneys have warned Trump away from attending. “And if they did, they wouldn’t like the response,” the person said.

Pros to debating

There’s a horde of other influential players trying to convince Trump that he’ll be a punching bag whether he’s there or not, so he might as well show up and parry the blows himself.

The former president has performed well at prior debates, wooing Republican audiences and swiftly shutting down opponents. He’s comfortable in the limelight, whereas his closest rival in the polls, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, hasn’t had the same effect on the public in recent weeks.

A no-show could give his rivals a chance to create a viral moment and gain momentum against him, they argue, and several have also pointed out that after he skipped the last debate before primary voting began in 2016, he ended up losing Iowa to Ted Cruz.

“You want to win the nomination, you got to get in front of those primary voters. But for me, it’s another part of it. … This is an audience of 20 million people, plus,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told Fox News in July. “Leaving that opportunity aside and not getting on the debate stage is just more of an opportunity for Joe Biden to continue to get his message out.”

Those who want to change Trump’s mind include Fox News President Jay Wallace and CEO Suzanne Scott, who lobbied Trump over dinner at his resort in Bedminster, N.J., as The New York Times first reported last week. The pair, Playbook was told, suggested DeSantis — whom Trump despises — could end up stealing the show.

David Bossie, a longtime Trump ally who now heads the party’s debate committee, has also pressed Trump to attend, as well as campaign rivals who are trying to goad him onstage.