Santorum and Huckabee to Join Trump at Veterans Event

Donald Trump's campaign event that's scheduled during Republican debate tonight will have special guests -- two fellow GOP candidates.

Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum announced Thursday that they plan on attending Trump's "special event to benefit veterans organization" after they appear on the Fox News debate stage.

Huckabee tweeted earlier today that he'll be joining the Republican frontrunner after the undercard debate in Des Moines, Iowa. An aide to Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, told ABC News that he too would attend Trump's event.

"It's to honor the troops. It's not an endorsement of Donald Trump's candidacy," Huckabee said in an interview with CNN. "I'm still running for president. We have the caucuses Monday night. But I'm delighted to join Donald Trump in an effort to salute veterans. And you know what, I didn't have anything going on at 8:00 tonight. I'll be done. So I figured why not. Let's show the veterans our support."

Veterans will share the stage with Trump at the event. The Republican front-runner's family is also expected to make an appearance.

It is unclear which veteran-affiliated organizations will benefit from the Trump rally.

One organization that supports veterans told ABC News that it is not unusual for events to be hosted in honor of veterans and for a check to arrive following the event.

Donald Trump announced Tuesday he's skipping tonight's Republican debate, citing issues with Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly.

His event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa is the same time -- 9 p.m. Eastern -- as the Republican debate hosted by Fox News.

Trump had tweeted this morning seemingly alluding to Santorum and Huckabee's attendance:

ABC News' Paola Chavez contributed to this report.