Washington: In a surprising move, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he would not participate in Thursday's scheduled GOP debate on Fox News, escalating his ongoing feud with the channel.

Trump's campaign manager insisted that his decision was irreversible. The billionaire businessman took the decision less than one week before the start of Iowa caucuses.

"Why should the networks continue to get rich on the debates?" Trump told reporters at a news conference in Marshalltown. "Why do I have to make Fox rich?"

The debate will be held in Des Moines on Thursday, and Trump has announced to host a competing event in the state designed to raise money for wounded veterans. Trump's move has left everyone stunned because he has become the first presidential candidate in modern memory to withdraw from a debate at such a consequential moment on the primary calendar.

Trump long repeatedly expressed his displeasure over the participation of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly as one of the three moderators, claiming he was not treated fairly by her during earlier debates. Trump also said that a "wise-guy press release" which was released by channel on Tuesday belittle him.

Fox's statement said that network officials "had learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president."

The statement added that Trump "has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings."