Conservatives like Erick Erickson and Bill Wichterman, who worked with George W. Bush, are organizing the anti-Trump meeting. | AP Photo Top conservatives gather to plot third-party run against Trump The meeting is scheduled for two days after tonight's primaries in what many Republican operatives believe will determine whether Trump is on an unstoppable march to the nomination.

Three influential leaders of the conservative movement have summoned other top conservatives for a closed-door meeting Thursday in Washington, D.C., to talk about how to stop Donald Trump and, should he become the Republican nominee, how to run a third-party “true conservative” challenger in the fall.

The organizers of the meeting include Bill Wichterman, who was President George W. Bush’s liaison to the conservative movement; Bob Fischer, a South Dakota businessman and longtime conservative convener; and Erick Erickson, the outspoken Trump opponent and conservative activist who founded RedState.com.


"Please join other conservative leaders to strategize how to defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination,” the three wrote in an invitation obtained by POLITICO that recently went out to conservative leaders, "and if he is the Republican nominee for president, to offer a true conservative candidate in the general election."

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, two days after winner-take-all Florida and Ohio vote in what many Republican operatives believe will determine whether Trump is on an unstoppable march to the nomination or is likely to stall out short of the 1,237 delegates he needs.

One person involved in the gathering described it as in the “embryonic” stages.“ It’s not like there’s a royal grand plan that’s going to be unfurled," this person said. "People aren’t giving up on the Republican Party yet."

Still, Wichterman, Fischer, and Erickson represent three boldface names to host such a gathering. All three have deep ties to the social conservative movement, which Ted Cruz has tried to unite behind his candidacy.

Wichterman, in addition to his top job for Bush, served as a senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He now works for Covington, a law firm in Washington, D.C.

Fischer, in 2012, helped bring together a group of more than 200 conservatives from across the country to unite around Rick Santorum’s candidacy. An event in Houston he put together raised $1.8 million in a day.

And Erickson, who has sparred publicly with Trump for months online and on his radio show, has previously said, “I will not be voting for Donald Trump at all. Ever.”

Other GOP donors, who are interested in exploring the possibility of challenging Trump, recently commissioned a study on the feasibility of launching a last-minute, independent bid.

Trump dominates the GOP delegate count with nearly half of the states already voting in the Republican presidential primary. According to POLITICO's calculations, he would need to amass slightly more than 50 percent of the remaining delegates to secure the nomination outright.

