The march to 1,237 delegates just got easier for Donald Trump as news outlets that count heads have revised his total dramatically upward – although maybe not quite as high as the billionaire himself believes he's climbed.

'We are now at 1001 delegates,' Trump claimed Friday afternoon on Twitter. 'We will win on the first ballot [in Cleveland] and are not wasting time and effort on other ballots because system is rigged!'

It's unclear how Trump's team calculated its delegates to reach that total of 1,001, and campaign aides didn't immediately respond to a request for an explanation.

MARCH TO 1,237: Donald Trump says he has 1,001 Republican national Convention delegates locked in, constituting a massive lead on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich

REALITY? ABC News has the highest published delegate count for Trump, with 996, but it's still a formidable number

News organizations including the Associated Press and several broadcast outlets estimate that he hasn't yet jumped into quadruple digits.

But it's clear that an accounting of 'unpledged' delegates elected Tuesday in Pennsylvania has pushed everyone's totals higher.

ABC News called all 54 of those and found that a large majority – 41 in all – said they would vote for the billionaire at the Republican National Convention in July.

Trump won the guaranteed support of 17 delegates with his voting landslide in the Keystone State, but 54 others technically remain free agents who can side with anyone they choose.

With the 41 Trump backers added in, the real estate tycoon's total for Pennsylvania rose from 17 to 58, and his national total now stands at 996, according to ABC's count.

It's possible that Team Trump believes it has 46 unpledged Pennsylvania delegates in its pocket, not 41, bringing its internal count to 1,001.

CNN gave Trump fewer Pennsylvania delegates than ABC, though, based on more limited interviews. Its overall count is stalled at 991.

FIGHT TO THE FINISH: Trump (left) has a sizable lead over Cruz (center) and is leaving Kasich (right) completely in his dust

PENNSYLVANIA MATH: ABC talked to all 54 of the state's 'unpledged' Republican delegates and found that 41 of them will back Trump at the convention, adding them to the 17 delegates he won automatically on Tuesday

WHERE THE GOP STANDS: ABC'S DELEGATE MATH 2016 Republican National Convention delegate totals through April 29, according to ABC News (1,237 are needed to win): Donald Trump: 996 Ted Cruz: 568 *Marco Rubio: 167 John Kasich: 154 Uncommitted: 58 Other: 16 * Rubio suspended his campaign in March. Advertisement

An estimate from Real Clear Politics is holding in the middle at 994.

But any way Team Trump slices it, his five-state sweep this week put him in the catbird seat: There are 502 delegates up for grabs in the final 10 statewide primaries, and he needs to collect, at most, 246.

Indiana, a winner-take-all state with 57 delegates to award, votes next Tuesday.

If ABC's count is correct, and Trump wins in the Hoosier State, he would only need to win 41.3 per cent of the remaining delegates in order to clinch the GOP nomination.