# What will be Trump's conditions for the debates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 10, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356 "2016-08-10T16:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/41 "2016-08-11T21:13:41Z")
“Rule number one: no questions. Rule number two: only I get to talk. Rule number three: I get 50% of the door sales. No negotiations, take it or leave it.” _– The Artful Dealer_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/42 "2016-08-11T21:38:34Z")
I’m thinking “heavily medicated”. You? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/43 "2016-08-12T03:51:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > :eek: > > Where’s that flash-thingie from _Men in Black_– I need it! Next in line for the flashy-thing… ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/44 "2016-08-12T12:06:00Z")
The only condition that he really wants is “no debates at all.” He’s getting more than enough free publicity now, he’ll view a dedicated prime-time debate as a step down. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/45 "2016-08-12T12:42:48Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > His conditions are: Let’s _say_ we debated, and I won. … even though the moderation was so unfair. So unfair. Biased! ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/46 "2016-08-12T13:02:47Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > … even though the moderation was so unfair. So unfair. Biased! Sad! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/47 "2016-08-12T14:08:45Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > You know how some people are happy drunks or mean drunks or depressed drunks? > Watch it turn out that Trump is a Presidential drunk. There isn’t enough alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/48 "2016-08-16T02:04:18Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > There isn’t enough alcohol. He could wear one of those beer hats. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/49 "2016-08-16T10:41:05Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > … even though the moderation was so unfair. So unfair. Biased! There was blood coming out of her … wherever. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/50 "2016-08-16T13:29:38Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#): > > The only condition that he really wants is “no debates at all.” He’s getting more than enough free publicity now, he’ll view a dedicated prime-time debate as a step down. Trump desperately wants to debate Clinton. I assure you he’s looking forward to it and is thoroughly convinced he will win. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/51 "2016-08-16T13:58:09Z")
He is not going to debate Hillary. He will make unacceptable conditions about the makeup of the audience and the moderator(s). Assuming they refuse, he will then go to his next rally to piss and moan about how unfair it all was. If they call his bluff and _accept_ the conditions, he will modify them, clarify them, to whatever point it takes for the Hillary people to balk. The he goes to his rally… Rallies are his heroin, his jones. He lives to bask in the approval and adoration, he thrives on that energy, it allows him to believe that _these_ are the real Americans, and they are a massive and implacable majority. All of those poll numbers are lies, he knows the truth, he sees it wash over him in waves. Winning! Fuck it, the debates are a wash anyway. No minds will be changed if those minds have not already been changed by the stuff he’s already said. No minds will be changed that don’t already know that Hillary is sane, and he is nuts. I would be tempted to advise that they should accept his first set of “conditions” to force his play, make him “clarify” his demands, expose him yet again. But there is a small risk there, and even that risk isn’t worth taking, there is no upside. Who is left to convince? Who will be left by the time the debates happen? His conditions will be unacceptable. Don’t accept them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/52 "2016-08-16T15:04:45Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > He is not going to debate Hillary. You are literally saying Trump is going to turn down an opportunity to perform in front of 100+ million viewers? Did he stop being Donald Trump sometime recently and I missed it? The ratings for a presidential debate are YUGE. Bigger than The Apprentice. He’ll be there. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/53 "2016-08-16T15:11:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You are literally saying Trump is going to turn down an opportunity to perform in front of 100+ million viewers? Did he stop being Donald Trump sometime recently and I missed it? > > The ratings for a presidential debate are YUGE. Bigger than The Apprentice. He’ll be there. If he doesn’t have control of the crowd, if it isn’t made up of Trumpublicans, if he doesn’t own Mister Mike…then there is a damn good chance he find a way to blame anyone and everyone for “forcing” him to drop out of the debate. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/54 "2016-08-16T15:17:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You are literally saying Trump is going to turn down an opportunity to perform in front of 100+ million viewers? Did he stop being Donald Trump sometime recently and I missed it? > > The ratings for a presidential debate are YUGE. Bigger than The Apprentice. He’ll be there. But those 100 million aren’t in the building. He can’t hear their undying adulation. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/55 "2016-08-16T16:36:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > … If Trump says he’ll only participate in a Hannity moderated debate, or some other blatently unfair condition, Hillary will happily use it as an excuse to not debate at all. … If this very unlikely scenario happens, it would be a win for Trump. Not only could he a void a debate with someone who could wipe the floor with him, he could proclaim that Hilary backed out because she wouldn’t agree to a “fair” debate. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/56 "2016-08-16T16:50:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If he doesn’t have control of the crowd, if it isn’t made up of Trumpublicans, if he doesn’t own Mister Mike…then there is a damn good chance he find a way to blame anyone and everyone for “forcing” him to drop out of the debate. He made the Republican debates just fine, and didn’t control them. This is YUGER. No offense, but everyone here is looking at this from their own perspective, not Trump’s, and so all your assumptions of why he’d back out are wrong. 1. “Hillary will wipe the floor with him.” Nope. Trump doesn’t for one millisecond believe that. He believes he’ll destroy her in a debate. Doanld Trump is absolutely convinced he’ll win the debate by a yuge margin and will make her look foolish. He’s spent his life verbally bullying, bullshitting and conning people with his sales patter and he’s done it with a sensational winning percentage; why would he lose faith in his abilities now? (I’d also argue it’s not inconceivable he actually could win the debate simply by looking Presidential and not going bananas.) 2. “It won’t be a Trump crowd.” Trump believes all crowds are his crowds; he’s totally confident he can win any crowd over. Of course many people are being Unfair! to him, but that’s okay, they’re Losers. He’ll win over the crowd, or so he believes. 3. “The 100 million people aren’t in the building.” Trump’s most visible success was a television program with far fewer people on set than a TV debate. He’s evil but he’s not so stupid that he doesn’t understand how TV works. He loves TV audiences, and what’s going through his head about this is how his being the star of “The Apprentice” could somehow be translated into a TV debate. I assure you that Trump has, many times, daydreamed of a TV debate with Hillary Clinton in which his killer zinger is finding a way to say “…you’re fired!” 4. “He won’t control the moderation.” Again, Trump is a full blown narcissist whose job is cajoling, bullying, and persuading. He believes he can bend the debate to his tyranny of will. He believes his “winning” the GOP debates proves it. 5. “He already making excuses.” Well, sure he is. Trump, again, is a narcissist and a sociopath, but he’s also persuasive and manipulative. Trump may be horrible but he’s not stupid, and what he’s trying to do is set low expectations for the debates. The lower the expectations the better. What Trump wants to do, and what he should be doing, is to prepare the American people for a debate of almost surreal unfairness in which he is less competent than Billy Madison after going fifteen rounds with Joe Frazier. Trump wants you to expect that the debate is not only unfairly scheduled, but that he will show up wearing his pants on his head and unable to remember his own first name. His plan is to them put on an epic performance, this maximizing the delta between expectation and result, and impressing the shit out of everyone. Any subsequent critique can be handwaved away as “Yeah, but like I said, it was unfair. Imagine how well I’d have done if it was fair!” ---
**Author:** ![hermitcrab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@hermitcrab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermitcrab)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/57 "2016-08-18T18:27:18Z")
…only if there is a “bleep censor” present at the debate. all bleeps must start at the beginning of Ms. Clinton’s statements, and end when she is finished. Mr. Trump also requests a laugh track for his comments. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/58 "2016-08-18T22:08:43Z")
If Trump fails to show (for some contrived failure to agree on acceptable conditions) he looks like a coward; Hillary wins. If the debates proceed as scheduled and Trump talks, he looks like an idiot; Hillary wins. (Because there is no way that he will be willing to put in the prep time required to be able to discuss issues rationally.) The only way he wins if he somehow gets Hillary to do all the talking. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/59 "2016-08-18T23:01:08Z")
Oh, I completely disagree with those who say he won’t debate Hillary. He absolutely will debate her, and it could end up being the most watched television program in history, which I assume is what his real goal is. He probably will fight to have one debate – one – in prime time on a night when people will be watching and he will have the nation’s undivided attention, or at least as undivided as possible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356.md?page=2)