Donald Trump reclaimed his swagger Tuesday, cruising to a blowout victory in New York and closing off any realistic chance for top rival Ted Cruz to win the nomination without a fractious national convention in July.

Trump strode to a podium at his eponymous tower on Fifth Avenue and delivered one of his most restrained victory speeches yet — dropping the “Lyin’ Ted” heckles in favor of “Senator Cruz” and inching, however gingerly, toward the more presidential posture his critics have demanded.


It was a brief respite on his home turf from the rising clatter of concern in Trump’s orbit that his self-inflicted wounds and disorganized campaign had fatally damaged his chance to become the Republican presidential nominee.

"This has been an amazing week," he declared. "We don't have much of a race anymore."

It was a deflating loss for Cruz, who had hoped to yank Trump’s support below a crucial threshold — 50 percent — which would have denied Trump a slew of delegates and narrowed his already shrinking path to clinch the nomination before the convention. Instead, Cruz looked likely to miss a threshold of his own — the 20 percent minimum required to be eligible for delegates in New York’s congressional districts.

Trump finished with about 60 percent, a relatively easy win despite weeks of frantic campaigning by Cruz and John Kasich. Trump looked poised Tuesday night to score at least 89 of New York’s 95 delegates, taking a significant step toward the 1,237 he needs to win the Republican nomination by the end of primary season on June 7.

Kasich trailed far behind with roughly 25 percent of the vote, positioning him to pick up a handful of delegates in districts where Trump slipped below 50 percent support. Cruz, on the other hand, was all but certain to be shut out of the delegate grab on Tuesday, badly lagging Trump and Kasich in every part of the state.

Now, Cruz would need a miracle to win the nomination without a contested convention. Though he once mocked such a scenario as a fever dream of Washington insiders, he is all but certain to need a fractious battle in Cleveland to become the nominee. If he were to win every single delegate in the next 15 state primaries — including a slew he’s not expected to perform well in — he’d still need to corral a handful of uncommitted delegates to put him over the top.

"Sen. Cruz has just about been mathematically eliminated,” Trump gloated during his speech.

Cruz, who had already traveled to Pennsylvania, the largest contest in a five-state northeastern primary battle next week, sought to spin the loss as Trump simply performing as he should in his home state.

“I am so excited to share with you what America has learned over the past few months. And it has nothing to do with a politician tonight winning his home state,” he said. “It has everything to do with what we’ve seen in the towns and faces that have been weathered with trouble, joblessness, and fear. It is what we learned looking at the factories that have been shuttered and the hearts that are closing. We have learned that America is at a point of choosing.”

Cruz’s team noted that despite Trump’s dominance in New York, he had simply kept pace with Cruz’s overwhelming victories in Wisconsin, Colorado and Wyoming in recent weeks.

Cruz has begun to emphasize his dominance in the delegate selection fight – a shadow competition to install friendly delegates to the national convention. Most of those delegates, while required to vote according to state primaries and caucuses on a first vote, would be free in a contested convention to vote their conscience on a second ballot – and if they’re made up of primarily Cruz supporters, it could tilt the convention away from Trump.

Trump has complained loudly that this dynamic devalues the democratic process and represents a “rigged” system. He returned to those themes in his victory speech.

“Nobody should be given delegates, which is a ticket to victory,” he said. “Nobody should take delegates and claim victory unless they get those delegates with voters and voting … We’re going to go back to the old way: it’s called you vote and you win.”

Kasich, who touted his chances in New York, easily bested Cruz but still earned less than half of Trump’s support.

Still, Kasich’s campaign sounded an optimistic tone in a memo released Tuesday night, saying the Ohio governor is best positioned to knock out Trump at a contested convention.

“Donald Trump’s only chance is on the first ballot. After that, a number of his delegates will move to us on the second ballot, and Gov. Kasich will ultimately prevail because he is the only candidate who can defeat Hillary Clinton,” the campaign said.

Trump’s big day followed weeks of troubling instability within his campaign, as he tries to bring more experienced hands on board who have then clashed with his original inexperienced staff.

Another shakeup took place this past weekend, when Trump told senior staffers that he wants his recent hires Paul Manafort and Rick Wiley to take the reins in upcoming states.

The personnel changes have been particularly alienating for Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who has proven to be a volatile figure. One of Lewandowski’s loyalists, national field director Stuart Jolly, resigned on Monday amid the dramatic changes.

Manafort and Wiley are expected to be critical figures as Trump tries to ensure that delegates — including the ones he racks up Tuesday night — are loyal to him in a contested convention, which could be a struggle. New York’s convention delegation is chosen by party leaders in each county and congressional district, as well as by members of the New York state GOP. Though Trump has allies and institutional support scattered across the state, party elders and insiders seeking to attend the convention could conflict with his preferred delegate candidates.

None of it matters if Trump clinches the GOP nomination ahead of the convention. And that’s possible if he posts strong finishes in New York and the five states that vote next week — Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware — as well as New Jersey and California in early June.

