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- In an hour-long interview with Hugh Hewitt, Trump said he'd "love to debate" Meghan Markle.
- The embattled former president said he "didn't like the way she dealt with the Queen."
- Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, stepped back from royal life in 2020.
Former President Donald Trump said he'd "love to debate" the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, if given the opportunity.
Appearing on "The Hugh Hewitt Show" on Wednesday, Trump spoke at length about the indictments levied against him by grand juries across the country, President Joe Biden, and the first Republican presidential debate.
At the beginning of the episode, host Hugh Hewitt mentioned it's nearly the 50th anniversary of the second "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match when female star Billie Jean King bested Bobby Riggs in September 1973. Noting that the match brought in an estimated 90 million worldwide viewers, Hewitt said the only thing he could think of that could draw a similar audience would be a debate between Trump, Markle, and Prince Harry.
"I didn't like the way she dealt with the Queen," Trump said of Markle. "I became very friendly with the queen. She was an incredible woman at 95. She was so sharp. She was a hundred percent. When you watch Biden, you say, this is a different planet. But they treated her with great disrespect and I didn't like it."
He added, "I'd love to debate her. I'd love it."
In January 2020, Prince Harry and Markle stepped back from their roles as senior royals and moved to the United States, leading to a strained relationship between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family.
Markle never publicly spoke out against Queen Elizabeth herself, but she did say that members of the royal family disregarded her mental health and made racist remarks about her child.
She also said that the king cut the couple's finances off after they stepped away from their official duties.
While Trump noted in the interview that he "didn't like the idea that they were getting US security when they came over here," a spokesperson for the couple said in 2020 that they never even requested protection from the US government.
Outside of debating Markle, Trump said he "certainly will" debate the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024, despite missing out on the first Republican presidential debate in August.
According to an average of national polls deemed "major" by FiveThirtyEight, Trump currently has a 38 percentage point advantage over the Republican candidate in second place, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.