David Jackson

USA TODAY

The latest question about the Donald Trump campaign: How many debates will the candidate take part in, if any?

While Trump says he's eager to face Democrat Hillary Clinton, he also wants veto power over certain moderators and other possible changes that have some analysts wondering if the three scheduled presidential debates will come off this fall after all.

Alan Schroeder, author of the book Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail, said there are two schools of thought about Trump's reticence to commit to the debate schedule: He's either seeking conditions most favorable to him, or "he's looking for reasons to get out of them altogether."

Trump says there will be debates; he just wants questions cleared up.

"I don’t think they should be opposite NFL games, and I want to see a fair moderator and whatever else we’ll look at," Trump told Fox News this week. "But certainly I want to do the debates."

Trump says he may seek conditions for debates

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is representing Trump in debate talks, told CNN: "Donald Trump is going to participate in all three debates and the negotiations are going to be about — as they always are and have always been — about how we do it.”

Trump said he is prepared to veto certain moderators, who have yet to be named. While not naming names, Trump told Fox News that "we have a lot of very unfair people treating us as Republican and as conservatives."

He has for some time criticized the fact that two of the debates are opposite National Football League games. There is also precedent for backing out of a scheduled debate: In the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, the real estate mogul opted to skip a Des Moines forum over a dispute with Fox News, which was hosting the event.

2016 general election debate schedule

The Commission on Presidential Debates has set three presidential debates: Sept. 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York; Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis and Oct. 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A vice presidential debate is set for Oct. 4 at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.

Earlier this week, the Clinton campaign said in a statement that it would take part in the debates as scheduled, with campaign chairman John Podesta contending the Trump team was "engaged in shenanigans around these debates."

Clinton chair accuses Trump of debate 'shenanigans'

The three presidential and one vice presidential debate is the standard format, though there have been changes in what is still a relatively new phenomenon, historically speaking.

Presidential candidates in general elections did not debate until 1960, when John Kennedy and Richard Nixon staged four legendary television events. Many analysts believe Kennedy's polished performances gave him the edge over Nixon in that very close election.

Those were the last general election debates for 16 years, however. Candidates in the elections of 1964, 1968, and 1972 could not or would not agree to fall face-offs.

Then came 1976. Sitting President Gerald Ford, far behind in the polls to Jimmy Carter, challenged him to debate and three were ultimately held under the sponsorship of the League of Women Voters. (The vice presidential candidates, Democrat Walter Mondale and Republican Bob Dole, also debated that fall.)

In 1980, the campaigns of the incumbent Carter and Republican challenger Ronald Reagan couldn't agree on a format, especially as it related to independent candidate John Anderson. While Reagan and Anderson debated once without Carter, the two major party candidates met only once — on Oct. 28, 1980, a week before the election, which proved to be a pivotal event in Reagan's landslide victory.

Debates have become standard in the decades since, and in 1987 the Commission on Presidential Debates was formed to manage the process.

Most recent elections have featured three presidential debates, with two exceptions: 1984 and 1996, which featured only two. Both of those campaigns featured incumbent presidents seeking re-election — Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — which is not the case this year.

Is it Trump or Clinton?

Many analysts believe Trump will ultimately debate, if only for the television exposure.

Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan, said the New York businessman is "always looking to try to get the the rules to his advantage," and that is likely what is happening here.

Another reason Trump will likely participate: polls.

The Republican nominee has fallen behind Clinton in recent surveys, and it will be hard for him to catch up before that first scheduled debate on Sept. 26. Candidates in that position have little to lose by debating.

Debates often help "the candidate who is behind," Kall said. "After the conventions, it is the last opportunity for them to shake up the race."

They also feature a bigger television audience, and a Clinton-Trump showdown could break records.

General election debates often draw in the range of 50 to 60 million viewers; Schroeder said a Clinton-Trump match-up could draw up to 80 to 90 million.

"You're looking potentially at Super Bowl-line numbers here," Schroeder said.