TRENTON -- Donald Trump is apparently optimistic about his chances of winning New Jersey in November's general election.

After all, he says, it's his home away from home.

When the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News talk show Tuesday night, Hannity noted a new poll showed Trump in a surprising position in the heavily Democratic Garden State.

The Monmouth University poll had Trump trailing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton there by only four percentage points -- 38 to 34 percent.

That made Hannity wonder.

"Can you win New Jersey?" he asked Trump.

"I think so," the billionaire businessman said. "I mean, I love New Jersey. I am New Jersey. Like a second home. I have property there. I have a lot of employees there. And frankly, I think we're going to do well."

Though he was raised in New York City and continues to live there, Trump has made a number of New Jersey connections over the last 40 years. He owned up to four casinos in Atlantic City from 1984 to 2009. And he still owns three private golf clubs here.

Of course, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans nearly 2 to 1 in New Jersey. And a GOP presidential candidate hasn't won the state since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

But Trump said he "wasn't shocked" to see the poll's results.

"And when they find out about Hillary, how bad she is, how corrupt she is, when they find out what she's been doing -- and, more importantly, maybe, that I'm going to bring jobs back," he continued. "Cause New Jersey needs jobs."

"I mean, the manufacturing in New Jersey is being wiped out," Trump added. "Businesses in New Jersey are being wiped out."

While the state's unemployment rate rose from 4.4 to 4.7 percent in April, it lost 7,500 jobs that month, according to recently released figures from the state Department of Labor.

Still, Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University poll, stressed Tuesday that with Bernie Sanders still vying for the Democratic nod, New Jerseyans haven't yet rallied around Clinton.

"Blue Jersey doesn't appear quite so blue at this stage of the campaign," Murray said in a statement. "But we should keep in mind that neither major party candidate has fully locked in the support of their partisan bases. When and if that happens, the benefit should accrue more to Clinton than to Trump simply because Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state."

Donald Trump-owned properties in N.J. 27 Gallery: Donald Trump-owned properties in N.J.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.