If he loses the bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump says he won't run as an independent and will remain loyal to the GOP.
"I have no intention of changing my mind," Trump said on Thursday at a packed event in New York as he pledged his support to the party, which he says has treated him "with great respect."
According to Trump, since his campaign is "leading in every single poll" he felt sticking with the GOP would be the best way to win the election and "very easily beat the Democrats."
"I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Rep. Party & the conservative principles for which it stands" -Trump pic.twitter.com/KOjW12XdWk— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) September 3, 2015
Trump sparked fears in party leadership during the first Republican primary debate in early August when he said he wouldn't rule out running as a third party candidate, potentially weakening the support for a party candidate. But Thursday's announcement is his first public pledge to stick by the GOP.
Trump held up a piece of paper with his signature on it, saying it was his pledge to the Republican party.
.@realDonaldTrump showing off his signed pledge of loyalty to RNC pic.twitter.com/ADWqM2kg0X— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) September 3, 2015
His campaign simultaneously released a statement on that RNC pledge:
This is far and away the best way to secure victory against the Democrats in November 2016. I am leading in all local and national polls -- my whole life has been about winning and this is what must be done in order to win the election and, most importantly, to Make American Great Again!
Trump met with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus prior to the press briefing, at which time he says he signed the pledge.
When asked by reporters where Priebus was during the press conference, Trump offered a cheeky reply.
"He was here and he got the pledge, I told him, I don't know if it's appropriate Reince if you are here. I'm fine with him not being here because I don't want anyone thinking he's endorsing me," said Trump.
While Trump held the conference to publicly confess his love to the GOP, he didn't pass up the chance to talk about a few of his other favorite topics. The shortlist includes Jeb Bush ("I watched him on TV this morning, and it's a little sad"); being rich ("I'm putting up my own money. When you are in first place you can collect so much money, but I keep turning them down"); and his perceived successes ("After I announced we went up like a rocket ship").
Despite his new found support for the Republican party, Trump was happy to denounce his fellow Republican contenders throughout the briefing.
"We're a nation that speaks English and I think while in this nation we need to speak English," said Trump, who reiterated early criticism of Bush, who has been speaking fluent Spanish during several of his campaign stops.
Trump also spoke out against some of his more vocal critics within the party, claiming that "so far everybody that has attacked me has gone down the tubes."
And always one to keep it Twitter-relevant, Trump name-dropped a certain quarterback when talking about the Deflategate news that broke earlier on Thursday.
On Tom Brady #deflategate decision "I just spoke to him a little while ago, he is so thrilled and so happy" pic.twitter.com/dMNm1UNGbS— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) September 3, 2015
Trump also didn't forget about Kanye West's supposed 2020 presidential run, which he announced at Sunday's VMA Awards.
When asked by a reporter what he thought about the potential of facing West as a candidate in a future election, Trump said he is a big ran of the rapper.
"I'll never say anything bad about him because he loves Trump, so Kanye West I love him," said Trump.
on #kanye2020: "I'll never say anything bad about him because he loves Trump, so Kanye West I love him." pic.twitter.com/lRnD1KdLiy— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) September 3, 2015
However, Trump refused to answer questions about another global news story: Europe's migrant crisis.
When pressed on it, he said America has "too many problems at home" and instead turned the conversation to domestic job creation.