Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump boasted Monday that many of the GOP leaders who publicly oppose him are privately phoning him to make overtures.
“People that I’m watching on TV that are against me aren’t really against me,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference at his under-construction Trump International Hotel in Washington, just blocks from the White House.
He also said that it was a “fair question” whether House Speaker Paul Ryan should head up the party convention in July in Cleveland if he is working behind the scenes to block Mr. Trump’s bid for the nomination.
Mr. Trump said that he had spoken with the Wisconsin Republican and would take him at his word that he would remain neutral in the nominating procures, although new reports have cast doubt on the speaker’s impartiality.
Mr. Ryan has made several public statements criticizing Mr. Trump.
“They can play games and they can be cute,” Mr. Trump said. “I know about duplicity.”
Republican Party officials have made a concerted effort to derail Mr. Trump’s campaign and prevent him from winning the 1,237 delegates need to clinch the nomination, forcing a contested convention.
Mr. Trump made the claim that some of the opposition to him was just show following a meeting with several Congress members, as he tried to woo a wary Republican establishment.
“It’s a beginning meeting, but it was a very good one with the most respected people in Washington,” said the real estate tycoon.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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