The president also slammed the commission — which has sponsored all general election debates since 1988 — for acknowledging in September 2016 following his first debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton that “there were issues regarding Donald Trump’s audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall.”

Trump had complained to reporters in the post-debate spin room and during an interview with Fox News that his microphone during the broadcast was defective.

“3 years ago they were forced to publicly apologize for modulating my microphone in the first debate against Crooked Hillary. As President, the debates are up … to me, and there are many options, including doing them directly & avoiding the nasty politics of this very biased Commission,” Trump tweeted Monday.

“I will make a decision at an appropriate time but in the meantime, the Commission on Presidential Debates is NOT authorized to speak for me (or R’s)!” he concluded.

The president’s posts came after a report last week by The New York Times stating that Trump had discussed with advisers potentially skipping the debates because of his qualms with the commission. The group said in a statement Monday that the “televised general election debates are an important part of our democratic process,” and defended its record as “one of fairness, balance and non-partisanship.”

Frank Fahrenkopf, the commission’s co-founder and Republican co-chair, has pushed back in recent months against conservative objections to its alleged preference for liberal-leaning moderators. “We’re looking for that person who is as unbiased as possible, will do a fair job, and be a facilitator,” he told POLITICO in October, adding that the commission will seek out questioners who are “not biased one way or the other.”

The commission announced in October the locations and dates for the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle, and said in its statement Monday that the four universities selected as host sites are “already hard at work on these important civic education forums.”

The prospect of squaring off on stage with the president has loomed large over the Democratic primary. Before exiting the race earlier this month, California Sen. Kamala Harris frequently argued that her prosecutorial skills made her the party’s best pick to debate and dismantle Trump, while former Vice President Joe Biden has faced questions regarding his stamina and readiness to forcefully challenge the pugilistic incumbent.

Trump predicted earlier this year that the current crop of White House contenders would prove less formidable in debates than Clinton, tweeting in July: “This crew looks somewhat easier than Crooked, but you never know?”

Michael Calderone contributed to this report.