The once-promising, but then progressively quite sad, prospects for the Donald Trump debate have completely withered away: Donald Trump is bowing out of moderating the Newsmax debate timed right before the Iowa caucuses. According a statement from the proverbial desk of the media mogul, via Greta Van Susteren's blog, he said that the reason he was not moderating the debate was because he's still threatening to unveil another fake independent candidacy--not because the only candidates who decided to show up were Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. 

The Republican Party candidates are very concerned that sometime after the final episode of The Apprentice, on May 20th, when the equal time provisions are no longer applicable to me, I will announce my candidacy for President of the United States as an Independent and that, unless I conclusively agree not to run as an Independent, they will not agree to attend or be a part of the Newsmax debate scheduled for December 27, 2011. It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate. Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate. The American people are embarrassed by the gridlock currently taking place in Washington. I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again!

In the same way that he ended his candidacy the first time around, he still insisted that if he actually had moderated the debate it would've been the "most watched" and best of them all. 

I would like to thank Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum for having the courage, conviction, and confidence to immediately accept being a part of the Newsmax debate. I believe this would not only have been the most watched debate, but also the most substantive and interesting debate!

Update: If you read Trump's above statement as if he were saying it in one of his "From the Desk of Donald Trump" YouTube videos, well, here it is:

Update II: Another day another hand-scrawled note from Donald Trump. In at least his third instance of playing media critic, he sends Yahoo News Chris Moody his own article with a few permanent marker-style edits:

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Erik Hayden