--- title: Trump: Proposes $5 Million Fee for Showing Up at CNN Debate description: The businessman put a price on his participation at the coming CNN Republican debate: $5 million. canonical: https://time.com/4130436/donald-trump-republican-debate-fee/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-01T05:32:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:51.761Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Proposes $5 Million Fee for Showing Up at CNN Debate og:description: He also threatened to change his joking-style og:url: https://time.com/4130436/donald-trump-republican-debate-fee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ada3e2cf13f488e/698873380a4a2217fa9c743b/gettyimages-498513912.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1716 og:image:height: 965 og:image:alt: GettyImages-498513912 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Proposes $5 Million Fee for Showing Up at CNN Debate twitter:description: He also threatened to change his joking-style twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ada3e2cf13f488e/698873380a4a2217fa9c743b/gettyimages-498513912.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Proposes $5 Million Ransom for Showing Up at CNN Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2015-07-23. Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes_ by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Dec 1, 2015 5:32 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 23, 2015 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 23, 2015 Ty Wright—Getty Images by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Dec 1, 2015 5:32 AM UTC MACON, Georgia — Donald Trump says he isn’t joking anymore. The front-running GOP presidential candidate, who often has crowds laughing during his rallies, threatened to change his joking-style because it results in him being misrepresented — both in the press and in attack ads from his opponents. “They take two second snippets,” he exclaimed before settling back into his usual style, comedy included. But that’s not the only threat Trump levied. In a chilly arena that was transformed from an ice rink into an event space by laying down plastic tiles to cover the rink floor, the businessman put a price on his participation… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-proposes-5-million-ransom-showing-cnn-debate-n471786?cid=par-time%5F20151201) ## Transcript Rosie O'Donnell's disgusting, I mean both inside and out. You take a look at her, she's a slob. She talks like a truck driver. So he could have been born in Kenya and gone over to the United States. And everybody wants to be a US citizen. And his grandparents put an ad in saying he was born in the United States. He didn't kill Bin Laden. He gets so much credit for that. Ok excuse me. He had the guts to make that decision. And the genius. Excuse me. Guts. First of all Vince, your grapefruits are no match for my Trump Towers. They're bringing drugs They're bringing crime, they're rapist, and some I assume are good people, and I love the Mexican people. I've had thousands of Mexicans working for me. I sell apartments for millions of dollars to people from Mexico. They love me, they love me. [ CROSSTALK ]. He's a war hero cuz he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you this. And I see your Senator. What a stiff? What a Stiff? Lindsay Graham. I'm not using the lobbyists, I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. 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