Real estate tycoon Donald Trump Thursday moved a step closer to securing the Republican presidential nomination for the November 8 election as he surpassed the magic number of 1237 delegates.
The primary campaign milestone has turned Trump from being presumptive to likely GOP nominee but the billionaire businessman has still not been able to win over the Party establishment.
“I’m so honored. I’m so honored by these people; they had such great sense,” he said in North Dakota.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who will chair the Republican National Convention in July, brushed aside suggestions that he has endorsed Trump.
Trump also got into friction with Republican New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, who had refused to attend his rally.
And that was not all. Trump also attacked South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for her backing of Senator Marco Rubio, and former GOP candidate Mitt Romney, and others, raising fresh questions about his ability to unify the world – as demanded by the GOP leadership.
Also on Thursday Trump again sought to link acts of violence and terror to Islam – an anathema to followers of the faith. The businessman also said in his first 100 days as president, he will address the question of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Trump also scoffed off Senator Elizabeth Warren’s claim as being native American, and called her “Pocahontas,” prompting a reporter to term his remarks as offensive.
Likely Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton blasted Trump for his statements, and called him an “unqualified loose cannon.”
For his part, Trump mocked Clinton for her “bad judgement” on private emails issue and for getting bogged down in a drawn out battle with Senator Bernie Sanders.
“ I am watching Hillary fight, and she can’t close the deal,” he told reporters. “We’ve had tremendous support from almost everybody.”
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said the world leaders have been rightly “rattled” by rhetoric coming from Donald Trump.
