The 2016 Blast The latest POLITICO scoops and coverage of the 2016 elections. Email Sign Up

Tweets from https://twitter.com/politico/lists/team-politico



Donald Trump said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' that he is being treated unfairly by the Republican establishment and may run as an independent Trump again threatens independent bid

Donald Trump said Thursday he is being treated unfairly by the Republican establishment and may run as an independent.

“I am watching television — and I am seeing ad, after ad, after ad put in by the establishment, knocking the hell out of me, and it’s really unfair,” Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “But if I leave, if I go, regardless of independent, which I may do — I mean, may or may not. But if I go, I will tell you, these millions of people that joined, they’re all coming with me.”

Trump signed a loyalty pledge with the Republican National Committee last fall, promising to support the eventual nominee. But the party has no legal authority to bar Trump from a third-party run. “I signed a letter with the RNC, and I said, you know, I wanna do this as a Republican — the pledges, they call it," he said in Thursday's interview. "But I’m not being treated the right way. I am not being treated properly.”

The billionaire has sparked record turnout in the Republican primary as he’s dominated his opponents by winning 10 of the first 15 states. “I’ve brought in millions and millions of people to the Republican Party, and they’re gonna throw those people away,” Trump said. “And I’ll be honest — whether I ran as an independent or not — those people will never go out and vote” for another candidate.

Trump's latest threat to abandon the GOP comes as 2012 nominee Mitt Romney unleashed a withering attack against the Republican front-runner, labeling him “a phony” and “a fraud” who is “playing the American public for suckers.” His remarks are part of a speech he is scheduled to give in Utah.

Trump hit Romney right back after reading pre-releasedexcerpts of the speech, telling NBC's "Today" that the former governor is a stiff" who "failed twice and really failed last time."’