Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is bowing out as the moderator for a Republican presidential debate later this month, after most candidates in the field opted not to attend. 

Trump, in a written statement, said he wanted to make sure there's no "conflict of interest" in case he decides to run as a third-party candidate next year. 

"I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again!" he said. 

Though the Dec. 27 debate technically is sponsored by Newsmax, Trump quickly became the face of it after he was named as moderator. 

While former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum agreed to attend early on, other Republican candidates subsequently bowed out. 

Some expressed concern that the real estate mogul and reality TV star, who previously flirted with a possible Republican presidential bid before shelving the idea, would not definitively rule out running as a third-party candidate. 

Trump said Tuesday that, because he wants to keep his options open for a White House run, he will not participate in the debate. 

"It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an independent candidate," he said. "Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate." 

Trump went on to praise Gingrich and Santorum for "having the courage, conviction, and confidence" to agree to the debate. 

Voicing his trademark confidence, Trump asserted that had he followed through, "I believe this would not only have been the most watched debate, but also the most substantive and interesting debate!"

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