--- title: Donald Trump Violated Fox Debate Rules: Report description: Donald Trump broke the rules set by Fox News at Thursday's GOP debate, consulting with his campaign manager during a commercial break canonical: https://time.com/4248702/donald-trump-fox-debate-rule-violation/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-05T17:31:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:39:00.504Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Violated Fox Debate Rules, Report Says og:description: Trump's campaign manager met with him on stage during a commercial break og:url: https://time.com/4248702/donald-trump-fox-debate-rule-violation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa9e172c8e3b5591/69888056ab6d77b0196a8b8b/donald-trump-debate-rules.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Detroit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Violated Fox Debate Rules, Report Says twitter:description: Trump's campaign manager met with him on stage during a commercial break twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa9e172c8e3b5591/69888056ab6d77b0196a8b8b/donald-trump-debate-rules.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Violated Fox Debate Rules, Report Says > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=47c5e38b-6d44-43ad-a646-cbb676ccb117&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 5, 2016 5:31 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participates in a debate sponsored by Fox News at the Fox Theatre on March 3 in Detroit, Michigan. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participates in a debate sponsored by Fox News at the Fox Theatre on March 3 in Detroit, Michigan.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 5, 2016 5:31 PM UTC Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump [broke the rules set by Fox News](http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/05/media/donald-trump-fox-debate-rules/index.html) at Thursday’s [GOP debate](http://time.com/4247474/republican-debate-eleventh-detroit-fox-news-video/), consulting with his campaign manager during a commercial break. Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, went on stage to speak with the businessman at the first commercial break, violating Fox’s rule that candidates would not be allowed to have contact with their campaigns, [CNN reported](http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/05/media/donald-trump-fox-debate-rules/index.html) on Saturday, citing rival campaign sources. The anonymous sources said Trump has consulted with his campaign manager backstage at previous debates, even though it was forbidden. Thursday was more extreme, they said, because Lewandowski met with Trump on stage. Lewandowski refused to leave the stage when asked, so the network allowed the other campaigns to consult with their candidates as well. \[[CNN](http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/05/media/donald-trump-fox-debate-rules/index.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4248702/donald-trump-fox-debate-rule-violation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4248702/donald-trump-fox-debate-rule-violation/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Violated Fox Debate Rules, Report Says","datePublished":"2016-03-05T17:31:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:39:00.504Z","description":"Trump's campaign manager met with him on stage during a commercial break","url":"https://time.com/4248702/donald-trump-fox-debate-rule-violation/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa9e172c8e3b5591/69888056ab6d77b0196a8b8b/donald-trump-debate-rules.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa9e172c8e3b5591/69888056ab6d77b0196a8b8b/donald-trump-debate-rules.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Detroit","caption":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Detroit","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4248702/donald-trump-fox-debate-rule-violation/","name":"Donald Trump Violated Fox Debate Rules, Report Says"}}]}] ```