After learning he would face yet another criminal indictment, Former President Donald Trump dined with top Fox News executive at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey as they urged him to take part in the upcoming GOP primary debate on the network later this month, according to New York Times.

Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman reported Wednesday that, moments after Trump learned he would be indicted for his efforts to overturn the election on January 6th, he met with Fox News president Jay Wallace and chief executive Suzanne Scott for dinner.

The executives lobbied the former president to appear on the channel’s GOP primary debate scheduled for August 23rd, appealing to his vanity by saying it’s an opportunity to “show off,” the Times reported.

Trump has stated publicly that he may not attend the debate in Milwaukee or the second event planned at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. However, he told the network executives he was still open to the idea.

The dinner reportedly last two hours and was “cordial,” despite Trump’s consistent attacks on the network on his Truth Social app.

From the NYT:

The Fox executives made a soft appeal for Mr. Trump to attend the debate, two of the people familiar with the dinner said, telling the former president that he excels on the center stage and that it presents an opportunity for him to show off his debate skills. Several people who have tried pushing Mr. Trump to debate in recent weeks have argued that if he does not show up, he could be giving an opening to other candidates to perform well.

Mr. Trump told the Fox executives that he had not yet made a decision and would keep an open mind, the three people said. The Fox team requested the meeting. The dinner was supposed to have included another participant from the network — the host Sean Hannity, who is friendly with Mr. Trump — but he was doing his 9 p.m. show and couldn’t make it.

Despite his legal troubles, Trump is currently the Republican frontrunner in the primary with a commanding lead in key states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.

Fox News did not respond to a Mediaite request to confirm the dinner meeting.

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