Donald Trump -- Master Negotiator ... I Trimmed The Debate By Over an Hour!!

Donald Trump is so good at negotiating he saved the entire country from sitting through nearly three and a half hours of debate ... at least that's what he says.

Trump was giving his closing remarks during Wednesday's Republican Debate and called out CNBC. Trump says he and Ben Carson almost ditched the event last minute because it was just too darn long.

Donald said he got on the phone and negotiated with network execs to trim the debate from being over three hours long to just two. He says the network lost a ton of cash but those negotiation skills alone show how he can "make America great again."

For what it's worth ... debate moderator John Harwood said the debate was supposed to run 2 hours from the beginning.

Somebody's lyin'.