MIAMI — GOP frontrunner Donald Trump makes his refusal to take money from “special interests” a cornerstone of his stump speech — insisting that voters should trust him over his rivals for the nomination because he is (with the exception of a few million dollars in checks from small donors) primarily self-funding his campaign.

But as Trump increasingly appears likely to become the party’s presumptive nominee, an open question is whether the real estate mogul has the desire and the actual means to fund what could be a billion-dollar general election campaign against his likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

In recent days, Trump has offered vague responses when asked if he’d continue to self-fund his campaign. But pressed on the issue on Thursday night, he offered his most specific answer yet, saying he hadn’t made up his mind about whether to take outside contributions.

“I have not made that decision yet,” he replied.

While it was hardly a definitive answer, the GOP frontrunner suggested he’s at least toying with the idea of taking outside money — a potentially significant shift for a candidate who had previously implied he would never take big campaign checks.

Still, Trump insisted he’s conflicted over the idea — a hedge that perhaps gives him some cover with supporters who enthusiastically support his stance as an independent candidate beholden to no one.

Pointing to his own experience as a big campaign donor, Trump repeated his charge that Washington has been corrupted by outside money from lobbyists and special interests. “They make large contributions to politicians, and they have total control,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to control me.”

(Cover tile photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters)