Trump has brought up a few times about how the ratings he brings in for these debates and that the networks seem to make a fortune off of him, so he tried out asking that CNN donate a $5 million to charity. CNN's response was to say that they don't pay candidates to appear, which is sort of an interesting misrepresentation that a lot of news sites ran with as part of their headlines.

_When you’re leading in the polls, I think it’s too big of a risk to not do the debate,” Trump said in an interview with the paper.“I don’t think I have the kind of leverage I’d like to have in a deal, and I don’t want to take the chance of hurting my campaign. So, I’ll do the debate.”

Earlier this week, Trump told a rally in Macon, Ga. that he was thinking of telling CNN that he “won’t do the debate unless they pay me $5 million, all of which goes to Wounded Warriors or goes to vets. I would love to do that.”_

"On Thursday, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker said that they “do not pay candidates” to appear on the network, rejecting Trump’s threat. His remarks came at a Q&A sponsored by Paley Center for Media."