Donald Trump balked at answering post-speech questions at the Conservative Political Action Conference — scotching an appearance rather than conceding to "terms" that would've cut into his talking time, Politico reports.
According to Politico, the
last-minute brush-off could signal the GOP presidential front-runner believes he doesn't need the boost from the influential group.
"They refused to accept the terms and they asked us to change the terms to allow him to give longer remarks," Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the group that sponsors CPAC, tells Politico. "And we said no to that."
An unnamed ACU board member tells Politico the real estate billionaire "didn't want to answer questions, and he decided he was the front-runner so he didn't need to answer them, or even to show up."
"Trump thinks everything is negotiable, but this wasn't," the board member tells Politico. "It's ACU's policy to have every presidential candidate actually answer questions, not just come and give a stump speech."
Politico notes the appearance, nevertheless, could have been uncomfortable for Trump,
with a number of speakers, including presidential primary rival Sen. Ted Cruz, and people attending the annual event in National Harbor, Md., criticizing him.
Politico reports that Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had been trying to iron out the details of the appearance with ACU executive director Dan Schneider through Friday morning.
CPAC had come under fire for inviting the brash billionaire.
"It's a shame because Schlapp had stood his ground and said that we were going to have him come and speak, even though he was taking some heat for it," the board member tells Politico.
Former ACU chairman Al Cardenas added that Trump's no-show was "about as strong a slap in the face as you can get," predicting "this is going to make it very difficult to unite the conservative movement if he is the nominee."
But Lewandowski pushes back the suggestion a question session was a deal-breaker.
"No candidate in the race for president has answered more questions than Mr. Trump," he tells Politico. "He has done more interviews than all the candidates combined." The campaign has argued Trump canceled because it was a better use of time to be in Kansas on Saturday ahead of its GOP primary.