I'd bet that they set up the rules expecting and planning that Senor el Jebbo would be occupying that spot.
What I don’t like is Meghan Kelly licking her chops over this debate. I have a feeling she is going to be asking a lot of “gotcha” questions to Trump in an effort to bring him down. I don’t like her as much as others do. And, oh yeah, Chris Wallace is the same. The only fair person on the panel is going to be Brett. I just hope they aren’t all conspiring to take Trump down - it could backfire on them.