Was Donald Trump really fed his Fox News town hall questions in advance, and is that allowed?

Donald Trump‘s political career has been mired in controversy after controversy, and an upcoming book is claiming to uncover yet another layer. 

According to the aforementioned book, titled Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, Trump was allegedly fed questions in advance for a town hall he held on Fox News last year. But is there any truth to these claims? More importantly, is that even allowed?

An attempt to expose Trump

Considering how much disdain Donald Trump has always had for the “fake news media,” the current claims against him are very ironic.  CNN released a report with exclusive excerpts from the upcoming book by Alex Isenstadt, a reporter from Politico. 

In one of the excerpts, Isenstadt claimed that then-candidate Trump got a sneak peek at the questions he was to be asked at an Iowa town hall hosted by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Isenstadt also reported that Trump’s advisers were not fully in support of the town hall. 

He wrote that the advisers “were still peeved at Fox, whose coverage they continued to find antagonistic, and did not want the former president to do the prime time event. But Trump had a good relationship with Baier—they were golf buddies—and wanted to do a sit-down.” However, Baier and McCallum were known for their hard hitting questions, and Trump wasn’t “taking prep for the telecast seriously,” which had his advisers extra worried. According to the book, about 30 minutes before the town hall, one of Trump’s senior aides began getting text message images showing the questions he would be asked. 

Holy s–t, the team thought. They were images of all the questions Trump would be asked and the planned follow-ups, down to the exact wording. Jackpot. This was like a student getting a peek at the test before the exam started.

The texts revealed that Trump would be asked whether he was a risky choice for president, considering his indictments, and if his White House would be “focused on retribution” if he won. They would also ask if Trump was willing to “disavow political violence.” With these insights, Trump’s team was able to “workshop answers” to the questions.

Fox News’ response to the allegations

The claims against Fox News by Isenstadt are accusing the network of some very unethical practices. According to CNN, a Fox News spokesperson responded to the books claims, saying, “While we do not have any evidence of this occurring, and Alex Isenstadt has conveniently refused to release the images for fact checking, we take these matters very seriously and plan to investigate should there prove to be a breach within the network.”

The same spokesperson also shed doubt on Isenstadt’s reporting, saying Trump and Bret Baier were never “golf buddies” and had only played together a few times. Another source from Fox News told Vanity Fair, “If there was a breach, it was not from Bret or Martha or the top editorial levels of the network and there is a sophisticated and extensive digital footprint of all editorial material.”

If these accusations are true, it would be very ironic for Trump, who has always claimed that the news is biased against him. For example, after his presidential debate against Kamala Harris, he consistently attacked the moderators for doing their job and fact-checking him. 

Isenstadt’s book, Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, will be released in March, and, according to CNN, is based on “internal memos, notes and recordings as well as regular reporting trips to Palm Beach and a flight with Trump aboard his plane in June 2023.” Chalk this up as another string of controversy for the incoming president.