Report: Trump breaks with tradition, opts out of pre-Super Bowl interview

President Trump has reportedly decided to break with tradition and not do a sit-down interview before Sunday's Super Bowl 52 event.

"He is not doing a Super Bowl interview," a White House official reportedly told CNN on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.

A commander in chief known for his affinity for TV ratings, Trump's decision to opt out of the widely-watched televised event comes one year after he participated in a pre-Super Bowl interview with Bill O'Reilly on FOX. This year, the game will be broadcast on NBC -- a network often criticized by the Republican president.

President George W. Bush started the pre-Super Bowl interview tradition in 2004 when he appeared for an interview discussing his administration and home state of Texas, where the game was played that year.

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Last month, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt commented on the potential for a pre-game interview with the president, saying the network and White House had yet to reach an agreement.

"Without getting into specifics, I can tell you that there have been conversations between NBC News and the White House about a conversation format, the timing, the location, those sorts of things," he told Adweek.

Trump's blunt media attacks have often included direct reference to NBC News, a factor that perhaps influenced his decision to nix the tradition.

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"With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License?" Trump tweeted in October of 2017. "Bad for country!"

The Super Bowl showdown will kick off on Sunday with a dynamite matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.

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