WASHINGTON — Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has assured Donald Trump that he'll be "treated fairly" by the station, Trump tweeted Friday.
"Roger Ailes just called. He is a great guy & assures me that 'Trump' will be treated fairly on @FoxNews. His word is always good!" wrote the billionaire businessman and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, whose unorthodox campaign is dominating the race and summertime polls.
Trump and the network, which is one of the most powerful voices in Republican and conservative circles, have been in a bitter, heated feud since last week's GOP primary debate.
Fox News representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but one of the network's personalities, Steve Doocy, tweeted that Trump would be appearing on "Fox and Friends" Tuesday morning to talk "about his relationship with @FoxNews."
Trump maintains that he was treated unfairly in a series of tough questions, including one from moderator Megyn Kelly about Trump's history of negative statements about women.
Trump later told CNN that Kelly, angry over his response, had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever."
Trump maintained Monday that he never intended to say anything inappropriate about Kelly and said the uproar over his criticism was "all fueled by the press."
"This wasn't meant to be much of an insult," he told NBC's "Today" show.
Trump spent the weekend criticizing both Kelly and the network in interviews and online.
"It amazes me that other networks seem to treat me so much better than @FoxNews. I brought them the biggest ratings in history, & I get zip!" he tweeted.
In a separate interview Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Trump was coy when asked whether he'd spoken to Ailes or anyone else at Fox News over the weekend to settle their differences.
"I'm not going to embarrass anybody," he said, declining to answer the question. "My whole life has been led on the theory that I do not want to embarrass people."
Still, Trump seemed unshaken by the dispute, touting his poll numbers and maintaining that both Fox and his rivals benefited handily from his presence at the debate.
"They had 24 million people watching," Trump said. "If I wasn't on the show, they would have had 2 million."
Associated Press writer Jocelyn Noveck in New York contributed to this report.