GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is back at war with Fox News, though it's likely he never stopped, writes Gabriel Sherman at New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer.

Trump and Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes appeared to have reached a truce earlier this month after Trump went after Megyn Kelly, one of the network's most popular anchors, following her tough questioning of Trump over his comments about women.

Trump appeared to be over the issue, though he implied in an interview with Newsmax TV that Kelly's "vacation" might have really been punishment for her treatment of him. Fox said the vacation had been scheduled for months and coincided with scheduled time off for several other Fox anchors.

When Kelly returned from vacation on Monday, Trump immediately tweeted:

Ailes, unlike the first go-round, immediately responded on Tuesday morning, Sherman noted.

Both Ailes and Trump apparently are unhappy, he wrote.

"[M]ore than a half-dozen sources on both sides of the divide told me that the war is real, and not in a reality-television sense of the word," Sherman wrote.

"'What’s wrong with this guy?' Ailes grumbled to a Trump ally recently,' he said.

On Tuesday, Ailes went public with his complaints.

"Donald Trump's surprise and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show last night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing. Megyn Kelly represents the very best of American journalism and all of us at Fox News Channel reject the crude and irresponsible attempts to suggest otherwise," said Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive of Fox News, in a statement released Tuesday.

"I could not be more proud of Megyn for her professionalism and class in the face of all of Mr. Trump's verbal assaults. Her questioning of Mr. Trump at the debate was tough but fair, and I fully support her as she continues to ask the probing and challenging questions that all presidential candidates may find difficult to answer.

"Donald Trump rarely apologizes, although in this case, he should. We have never been deterred by politicians or anyone else attacking us for doing our job, much less allowed ourselves to be bullied by anyone and we're certainly not going to start now. All of our journalists will continue to report in the fair and balanced way that has made Fox News Channel the number one news network in the industry."

In a statement to Newsmax, Trump responded: "I totally disagree with the Fox statement.

"I do not think Megyn Kelly is a quality journalist," he said. "I think her questioning of me, despite all of the polls saying I won the debate, was very unfair.

"Hopefully in the future, I will be proven wrong and she will be able to elevate her standards to a level of professionalism that a network such as Fox deserves.

"More importantly, I am very pleased to see the latest polls from Public Policy Polling showing me at a strong number one with 35 percent in New Hampshire, the Monmouth University poll showing me, again at number one, with 30 percent in South Carolina and the latest national poll from Gravis, where I am again the clear front runner with 40 percent, " Trump continued.

"It was also just announced that I won the prestigious corn kernel poll at the Iowa State Fair by a landslide."

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/donald-trump-war-with/2015/08/25/id/671918/