Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are set to go head-to-head Wednesday in the next Republican presidential primary debate, just days before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.  

Former President Trump, the party frontrunner, is skipping the events, leaving just two candidates to square up in Des Moines at the event hosted by CNN. 

The DeSantis-Haley showdown is set for 9 p.m. ET on Jan. 10, hosted by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at Drake University in Des Moines.  

The debate will be available live on CNN Max and for pay TV subscribers on CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, according to the network.  

Starting Thursday, the day after the debate, the program will be available on-demand at CNN.com, on CNN apps and cable operator platforms.  

The Republican National Committee (RNC) recently released candidates from a requirement to participate only in party-sanctioned debates, triggering CNN and ABC to announce a trio of January debates in Iowa and New Hampshire, two critical early states.  

CNN required candidates to meet a polling bar of at least 10 percent in three separate national and/or Iowa polls of Republican caucus-goers or primary voters that meet CNN’s reporting standards, including one that’s an approved CNN poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers. 

Just Haley, DeSantis and Trump cleared that threshold. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who made the party’s previous debates, were left off the stage.  

Trump is planning to take part in a Fox News town hall at the same time as the CNN event. He’s passed on the party’s four previous debates, opting for his own counter-programming, which has included a campaign rally and a pre-recorded interview.