Both Trump and CNN profited from the hysterics that CNN threw at the time, but that dynamic is over and done with. No one wants to revisit the past. They want to see CNN shuttered and the talking heads condemned to poverty. And does CNN really have the same numbers as it once did for Trump to legitimize them with this 'town hall'?
Why is Trump throwing them the olive branch? It makes Trump appear like an establishment shill.
Or does he see CNN as the in-roads to 'more' mainstream media as the presidential elections kick off again?
Trump is a super boomer, so he'll never use alt tech over traditional television. And he still is of the pre-presidential era mindset when he was loved by the mainstream media. So he'll go on CNN, expect them to treat him fairly, and then he'll write an angry "truth" when they inevitably do him dirty.
I agree with all of that except the he thinks they'll treat him fairly part. He knows full well they won't. But he likes the attention and will enjoy being able to talk about how unfair they were after.