The year-long drama between Donald Trump, the billionaire Republican presidential front-runner, and the conservative Fox News Network, at times his chief antagonist, has been like watching a toxic relationship between two celebrities: it’s clearly too bad to last, but too mutually beneficial to break apart.

Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that, like most on-again, off-again power couples, they’re hooked up again, this time for New Year’s Eve — and the annual ratings war with CNN.

Further blurring the lines between politics, celebrity and entertainment, Fox News announced Tuesday that Trump will be a tacit headliner for its “All American New Year” broadcast, hosted by Eric Bolling and Kimberly Guilfoyle, of “The Five” Fox’s daily talk show.

“Since it’s 2016, we thought it would be great to hear from some candidates,” Bolling said on Tuesday’s broadcast. “Donald Trump is going to ring in the new year with us, and you’re going to hear from a bunch more of the 2016 contenders. You definitely don’t want to miss this New Year’s Eve party with us.”

A Fox News spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that Trump will join the program via satellite "closer to midnight to ring in the new year."

Although the network also confirmed it will feature other as-yet-unnamed presidential contenders in the program, the decision to have The Donald on for the midnight ball drop strongly suggests he’s the main draw. Some TV analysts also said Fox is clearly taking on CNN, which has found New Year’s Eve ratings gold with news anchor Anderson Cooper and comedian Kathy Griffin broadcasting live from Times Square.

The L.A. Times reports that, while Fox is the nation’s overall ratings leader, CNN seized first place in the New Year’s eve ratings last year, racking up 1.6 million viewers to Fox’s 1.2 million — including the coveted 25-to-54 age bracket.

While Fox insists other candidates will be featured, it’s not clear whether it will be Trump’s Republican rivals, or perhaps leading Democratic presidential contenders like Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. It’s also unclear whether any other politician running for president has made a similar appearance on an entertainment program ringing in the new year.

“I don’t recall anything that’s comparable,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Usually in election years, “candidates went home and spent time with their families” over the holidays, says Jamieson, who specializes in politics and communication. The question, she adds, is whether Trump — a native son whose image is indelibly printed on New York, and vice versa — acts like a presidential candidate or a celebrity guest wishing Fox viewers a happy new year.

If it’s the former, “I suspect the viewers will find it problematic, because that’s not what viewers are tuning in for on new year’s eve,” she says.

Eric Boehlert, a senior writer for Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog organization, says astute viewers likely will see Trump’s appearance as another chapter in the “Jack and Diane relationship” between the billionaire and the network that helped launch his candidacy.

“I don’t think any news organization has done this on new year’s eve. Most organizations take that night off,” he says. That Fox did it, he says, indicates the “the ratings bonanza” they expect Trump to deliver: There wouldn’t be any special programming for [Republican candidates] Jeb Bush and Chris Christie.”

Though Fox and Trump have had their spats, both sides see the benefit in continuing the relationship, Boehlert says. “There’s almost no daylight between them on much of anything,” he says, adding that some Fox News commentators and experts worry what will happen if Trump actually wins the GOP nomination.

“But if there was no Fox News, there would be no Donald Trump. If there were no Donald Trump, I would almost guarantee Fox News would not be hosting a New Year’s eve special. I guarantee you they’re doing this because they got a commitment from Donald Trump.”

Ultimately, it’s yet another “free-media” coup for The Donald, a wealthy real-estate developer and former star of “The Apprentice,” his own hit reality TV show.

Last month, NBC created a stir when “Saturday Night Live,” the network’s late-night sketch-comedy program, tapped The Donald for its Nov. 7th episode -- his second time hosting the program, but his first as a front-running presidential candidate.

NBC came under fire on two fronts: Trump’s 14 presidential competitors argued that the real estate mogul was getting what amounted to a free, 90-minute campaign ad and demanded equal time, while protesters wanted him axed over racist and sexist remarks he’s made on the campaign trail.