Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina offer millions to veterans' groups — but only if Trump debates

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump's plan to skip tonight's Republican debate turned into a bidding war between Trump, Ted Cruz, and Carly Fiorina on Wednesday night, with big donations to veterans' groups as the bargaining chip.

Two Super PACs supporting Cruz, Keep the Promise I and II, offered to donate $1.5 million to veterans' groups if Trump would meet Cruz for a one-on-one debate before the caucuses:

At about the same time, Cruz sent a letter to Trump inviting him to a debate in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday night and suggesting conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, or Rush Limbaugh serve as moderators.

Then Fiorina decided to, in her words, "up the ante," offering $1.5 million to veterans' charities if Trump joined the Iowa City debate, or $2 million to debate him at his alternate event tonight:

Veterans' groups wanted none of it, characterizing the candidates' offers as a cynical political ploy. The founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of American said they'd decline the donation if offered:

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via