"I. Will. Never. Leave. This. Race," Donald Trump says. | Getty Trump proclaims he will 'never' leave the race

Come Hell or high water, Donald Trump will not be leaving the race, the billionaire businessman and dominant poll leader is proclaiming.

In an interview with The Washington Post from Dec. 3 that was published Wednesday, the Republican presidential candidate made his point emphatically, saying he's not going anywhere, even if he loses an early state primary or two.


"I will never leave the race," Trump said. Pressed again, the report states, Trump "wave[d] one arm over his head, as if to clear away everything and remove all doubt."

"I. Will. Never. Leave. This. Race," the Manhattan mogul declared.

While the interview was conducted before the latest firestorm around Trump's proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., it provides more evidence that Trump is committed to the long haul. And it's likely to fuel speculation that Trump has not sworn off a third-party bid, despite his pledge to the Republican National Committee that he will support the eventual GOP nominee.

Trump further stoked talk about going independent on Tuesday, noting on Facebook that a USA Today poll suggests two-thirds of his backers would stick with him if he did. “A new poll indicates that 68% of my supporters would vote for me if I departed the GOP & ran as an independent,” he wrote, linking to the USA Today story on the poll.

Trump's continual flirtation with a third-party bid has tormented Republicans who fear it would divide conservatives and hand the election to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

In the interview with The Washington Post, Trump was asked about how he'll cope if he loses a state during the primary. The real estate mogul responded, "I can handle it, sure. I can handle it."

On the suggestion that most exit the race because they run out of money, Trump responded, "Right. They never say it because they’re not honest."

Trump pointed to an interview he did with NBC News' Chuck Todd that aired in October as "such a mistake," because in it, he answered a question as to what would make him abandon his bid for the White House. Trump's answer hinged on his polling performance, telling Todd that "if you would stop calling me because you no longer had any interest in Trump because he was doing so poorly, I’d go back to my business. I have no problem with that."

Trump then mentioned campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as the only person in his orbit who "hated" that answer, adding, "I quickly understood why. He was right. The next day, the headlines: Trump may leave race."