Trump faces new headaches in behind-scenes battle for delegates

While North Dakota is a most unlikely place for the Republican presidential campaign to take a critical turn, it nonetheless delivered an apparent setback over the weekend to front-runner Donald Trump in the behind-the-scenes battle for delegates, as Ted Cruz declared victory at the northern border state's GOP convention.
Like most states where Cruz has claimed victory, North Dakota is relatively light on delegates. Trump’s wins in delegate-rich primary states have kept the billionaire businessman well ahead, and the events in Fargo won’t change that.
But the North Dakota showdown speaks to the organizational headwinds Trump is facing – something he’s also dealing with in Wisconsin, which holds its primary Tuesday and where Cruz is polling in front. And if nothing else, the North Dakota convention results could put Cruz in a better position at the party’s July convention if the nomination is still open going into Cleveland.
"I'm thrilled to have the vote of confidence of Republican voters in North Dakota who delivered such a resounding victory today,” Cruz said in a statement. “Whether we defeat Donald Trump before the convention or at it, I'm energized to have the support of the vast majority of North Dakota delegates."
The vote in North Dakota was not a traditional primary or caucus, but a convention. Delegates chosen over the weekend through an internal party process will not be “bound” to any candidate. For that reason, there technically was no winner from the weekend’s gathering.
Yet the presidential candidates still scrambled to try and get their own supporters elected as delegates, banking on their loyalty at the July convention.

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In the end, the Cruz campaign claimed that 18 of the 25 delegates selected Sunday are supporters of the Texas senator.
The Trump campaign, though, disputed this, claiming some of those listed as Cruz supporters were actually undecided. One Trump source went so far as to call Cruz’s claims “bull,” saying the senator only has four dedicated supporters of the 18.
The campaign further claimed Sunday that they came into Fargo with “zero expectations” but were “encouraged by the results” in the end.
“Nearly one-third of Sen. Cruz's ‘list’ was not elected, and many of those elected from his ‘list’ are firmly undecided or support other candidates,” the Trump campaign said in a statement, while also touting an endorsement from Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
The campaign said supporter and former GOP primary candidate Ben Carson “privately met with many of the undecided delegates, and we're confident that we will receive strong support from the delegation in Cleveland.”

And John Weaver, strategist for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, took to Twitter to claim Cruz’s “strong-arm tactics” failed in North Dakota, saying he “helped elect delegates who will vote” for Kasich in Cleveland.
For whom the 25 delegates in Cleveland will vote remains an open question, as they are not bound to anybody. Some listed as Cruz supporters were actually “leaning” toward him, and not necessarily committed.

But the anti-Trump organizing in Fargo was nevertheless robust.
One anti-Trump group, Our Principles PAC, was heavily involved on the ground in Fargo, deploying a field team to speak to convention attendees and distribute hundreds of voter guides to make the case against Trump.
"This campaign is coming down to a ground game battle for delegates,” PAC senior adviser Brian Baker said in a statement. “We will fight for every last delegate vote all the way to Cleveland.  We are committed to making sure Donald Trump is not the Republican nominee and that the GOP wins the White House this fall with a principled conservative. Republicans at the North Dakota Convention rejected Trump, just like the entire Republican base will do this summer in Cleveland."
It’s these forces that Trump also is facing down in Wisconsin, which holds its primary on Tuesday. Cruz has led in most recent Wisconsin polls.
Trump is fighting to clinch the nomination before July with the requisite 1,237 delegates, while his remaining rivals try to hold him under that threshold.
Yet the front-runner has faced other setbacks in the grueling battle for each and every delegate. Recently in Louisiana, Trump has vowed to both file a lawsuit and an internal challenge within the Republican National Committee over reports that Cruz, despite losing the Louisiana primary to Trump in early March, could draw the support of enough “unbound” delegates and from Rubio supporters to actually overtake Trump in the state by as many as 10 delegates.
And The Tennessean reports that the Trump campaign is now accusing the Tennessee GOP of trying to stop pro-Trump delegates from being part of the state’s convention delegation.
Trump won the state’s primary, but a state party arm is responsible for appointing 14 of the 58-person delegation. The Trump camp reportedly alleges “anti-Trump” people have made their way onto the delegate list.
"They're picking establishment picks who don't support Donald Trump, and it's just the same effort that they're conducting all over the country to steal a vote here, steal a delegate there, to affect the outcome of the convention in July and take the nomination away from Donald Trump,” Darren Morris, Trump’s Tennessee state director, told the newspaper.

Trump, Cruz pressure Kasich to exit GOP primary race

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz don’t agree on much, but they seem to have come together on one point: John Kasich should get out.
Both Republican presidential candidates have turned up the pressure on Kasich, casting the Ohio governor as a nuisance candidate whose presence in the race is only frustrating their efforts to snag the nomination.
"If I didn't have Kasich, I automatically win," Trump claimed Sunday evening in West Allis, Wis.
Even Texas Sen. Cruz, who is second to Trump in the delegate race and eager to whittle the contest down to a two-man battle in the final weeks before the convention, is losing patience with what he describes as Kasich’s “spoiler” bid.
On Monday, Cruz said talk of someone other than him or Trump winning the Republican nomination at a contested convention is "nothing less than a pipe dream."
The complaints are building ahead of Wisconsin’s primary on Tuesday.

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It’s yet another contest that Kasich, who has won only his home state of Ohio, likely has no shot at winning. But Kasich’s out-in-the-open strategy is not to win in the traditional, state-by-state way -- but prevent his rivals from clinching the nomination with the requisite 1,237 delegates, in order to trigger a contested convention in Cleveland.
Monday night in an "On The Record" town hall hosted by Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Kasich said, "Both of them say I ought to get out of the race because I'm winning their votes. I agree with them."
He said that nobody will reach the requisite delegates for the nomination going into the convention, and that an open convention will decide the nominee."There's gonna be an open convention and it's gonna be cool...and the delegates are going to decide who can win in the fall," he said.
The two candidates with a more plausible path to the nomination – particularly Trump – are signaling the time has come, though, for Kasich to get out.
Trump said Sunday it was unfair for Kasich to continue campaigning. He suggested Kasich follow the lead of former candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush -- and quit. He said earlier Sunday he had shared his concerns with Republican National Committee officials at a meeting in Washington this past week.
The Kasich campaign, though, is wearing the complaints as a badge of honor.
Kasich chief strategist John Weaver sent a fundraising email highlighting Trump’s claim that he’d win if Kasich dropped out.
“Talk about a validator for what you and I know to be true - these guys are terrified to face Gov. John Kasich at a convention …” the email said.
As of Monday afternoon, Trump had 736 delegates, Cruz had 463 and Kasich had 143.
For Trump, Kasich’s presence in the race represents one of numerous challenges to his efforts to lock down the nomination before July. While Trump by far has won more states than anybody else, Kasich and Cruz both have helped slow his accumulation of delegates.
Further, Cruz has worked to solidify a backup plan in case the convention truly is contested.
The Washington Examiner reported Monday that the latest battleground is Arizona, a state Trump already won but where Cruz is actively recruiting candidates for delegate slots – who potentially could back Cruz in the event of a floor fight.
This, after Cruz claimed victory at North Dakota’s under-the-radar GOP convention over the weekend. While the 25 delegates selected at that convention are not bound to any candidate, Cruz claimed more of his supporters were elected than anybody else’s.
While Kasich defends his presence in the race, Cruz told Fox News that Kasich at this point is “mathematically eliminated” and right now is only playing the role of “spoiler.”
“A vote for Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump,” Cruz said. “You cannot be the nominee if you lose every state other than your home state.”
Meanwhile, the race in Wisconsin is turning out to be a tough haul for the two primary front-runners. Cruz is leading most GOP polls in the state, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton in some polls on the Democratic side.
An upset for the front-runners in Wisconsin could be problematic because the next big contest on the primary calendar is delegate-rich New York, which votes April 19. Trump still has a comfortable lead in the Empire State, but Sanders has threatened to close the gap against Clinton on the Democratic side.
In a sign of the tension in that race, Clinton and Sanders announced they'd agreed to debate in New York before the primary, though their campaigns continued debating over when to schedule the face-off.
On the Republican side, Trump's call for Kasich to bow out came as Republican concerns grew about the prospect of convention chaos if Trump fails to lock up his party's nomination -- or even if he does.
Behind Cruz in the polls in Wisconsin, Trump faces the prospect that a loss on Tuesday there will raise further doubts that he can net the needed delegates, making it far easier for his party to oust him in a floor fight at the convention in Cleveland in July.
Kasich acknowledges he cannot catch up in the delegate race, leaving a contested convention his only path to victory. Still, Kasich suggested that a contested convention would not involve the chaos that party leaders fear.
"Kids will spend less time focusing on Bieber and Kardashian and more time focusing on how we elect presidents," Kasich told ABC. "It will be so cool."

Cruz, Sanders look to keep pressure on front-runners with Wisconsin wins

Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders will hope that their underdog campaigns get a boost from Wisconsin voters in the state's primary Tuesday.
Most polls show Cruz leading Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the Badger State. The Democratic race appears to be much closer, but recent polls have shown Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist, holding a slight lead over Hillary Clinton.
While Sanders remains a force in the Democratic primary, a win in Wisconsin would do little to significantly cut into Clinton's lead in delegates that will decide the party's nomination. The stakes are higher for Cruz, who trails Donald Trump in the GOP delegate race and sees Wisconsin as a crucial state in his effort to push the party toward a convention fight.
"We are seeing victory after victory after victory in the grassroots," Cruz said during a campaign stop Monday. "What we are seeing in Wisconsin is the unity of the Republican Party manifesting."
Losses for Trump and Clinton in Wisconsin could be problematic with the next big contest on the primary calendar, in delegate-rich New York, not until April 19. Trump still has a comfortable lead in the Empire State, but Sanders has threatened to close the gap against Clinton on the Democratic side.
For Trump, the long lead-up to Wisconsin's contest has included one of the worst stretches of his candidacy. He was embroiled in a spat involving Cruz's wife, which he now says he regrets, was sidetracked by his campaign manager's legal problems after an altercation with a female reporter, and stumbled awkwardly in comments about abortion.

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While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the nomination ahead of the Republican convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to do so before the GOP gathers in Cleveland.

Cruz headed into Tuesday's contest with the backing of much of the state's Republican leaders, including Gov. Scott Walker, but Trump made a spirited final push in the state and predicted a "really, really big victory."

"If we do well here, it's over," he said. "If we don't win here, it's not over."

Complicating the primary landscape for both Cruz and Trump is the continuing candidacy of John Kasich. The Ohio governor's only victory has come in his home state, but he's still picking up delegates that would otherwise help Trump inch closer to the nomination or help Cruz catch up.

Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the governor and has joined Cruz in calling for Kasich to end his campaign. Kasich cast Trump's focus on him as a sign that he's best positioned to win over the businessman's supporters.

"They're not really his people," Kasich said. "They're Americans who are worried about, they're really most worried about their kids, are their kids going to have a good life?"

If Cruz wins all of Wisconsin's 42 delegates, Trump would need to win 57 percent of those remaining to clinch the GOP nomination before the convention. So far, Trump has won 48 percent of the delegates awarded.

To win a prolonged convention fight, a candidate would need support from the individuals selected as delegates. The prolonged process of selecting those delegates would test the mettle of Trump's slim campaign operation.

Cruz prevailed in an early organizational test in North Dakota, scooping up endorsements from delegates who were selected at the party's state convention over the weekend. While all 28 of the state's delegates go to the national convention as free agents, 10 said in interviews that they were committed to Cruz. None has so far endorsed Trump.

Among Democrats, Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Sanders' 980 based on primaries and caucuses. When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton holds an even wider lead -- 1,712 to Sanders' 1,011. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

Sanders would need to win 67 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to catch up to Clinton. So far, he's only winning 37 percent.

Even if Sanders wins in Wisconsin, he's unlikely to gain much ground. Because Democrats award delegates proportionally, a narrow victory by either candidate on Tuesday would mean that both Sanders and Clinton would get a similar number of delegates.

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Monica Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky, now 40 and 17 years removed from her affair with then-President Bill Clinton, is speaking out -- offering what could be uncomfortable details as Hillary Clinton is thought to be preparing a White House run.
Lewinsky has penned an account for Vanity Fair, excerpts of which were published Tuesday. In it, she recalls the humiliation she endured and accuses the Clinton administration and others of making her a "scapegoat."
"The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor's minions, the political operatives on both sides of the aisle, and the media were able to brand me," she wrote. "And that brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power."
Still, Lewinsky wrote that the affair was consensual.
"Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any 'abuse' came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position," she said.
Lewinsky said she "deeply" regrets what happened between her and the leader of the free world. As for her silence all these years, she acknowledged "buzz" that she was paid off but insisted "nothing could be further from the truth."
Lewinsky said her notoriety for years has hurt her ability to get the kind of job she wants. She said she interviewed for communications jobs but was often told she wasn't "quite right" for the position, or was courted just to help companies get media attention.
Lewinsky revealed that she was "suicidal" during the height of the Clinton administration scandal, though never actually tried to kill herself. As for why she's coming forward, she said she wants to "get involved with efforts on behalf of victims of online humiliation and harassment and to start speaking on this topic in public forums."

Candidates crisscross Wisconsin, where leaders Trump, Clinton stare down upsets

Presidential candidates crisscrossed Wisconsin on Sunday ahead of the state’s GOP and Democratic primaries in which upsets are looming -- while other, pressing campaign-season issues including debate challenges and convention rules unfolded off the campaign trail.
“I want it,” Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” in response to suggestions that she is avoiding a debate with rival Sen. Bernie Sanders in her adopted home state of New York ahead of its April 19 primary.
Sanders, a Brooklynite who has won five of the last six primaries or caucuses, challenged Clinton to a debate.
The Clinton campaign has offered a few dates -- including a weekday morning and at the same time as Monday night’s NCAA men’s basketball champions -- that the Sanders campaign and others see as less than optimal for viewership.
Still, Clinton said she was “confident” about the debate happening.
Late Sunday, the Sanders campaign countered by saying the candidate is available to debate April 10, 11, 12 or 13.

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Campaign spokesman Michael Briggs also said the Clinton campaign “disingenuously” announced that it had agreed to a debate on a day when it knew Sanders already had locked in park permits for a major rally in New York City.
"Let’s stop the silly political games,” Briggs said. “Let’s get on with debating the candidates’ stands on serious issues affecting New York and the United States.”
Briggs said in a statement late Sunday that Sanders accepted an invitation for a prime-time debate on April 10 on NBC News.
"We hope the Clinton campaign also accepts. The April 10 debate date is one of four dates that the Sanders campaign had proposed for a debate with Secretary Clinton before the New York primary election," he said.
Clinton has no public events Sunday in Wisconsin, where some polls show Sanders with a slight lead.
Though she has attempted to focus her resources of late on a general election race with GOP front-runner Donald Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Clinton also made clear Sunday the Sanders remains a political threat.
“I certainly I haven't moved on,” she told NBC. “I know that I still have work to do to win the nomination.”
She also repeated her regret for using a private email server for official communications while secretary of state, amid nagging concerns about her trustworthiness and said the FBI had not contacted her about being interviewed regard its investigation of the email matter.
Sanders and the top two GOP presidential candidates, Trump and Cruz, were campaigning in Wisconsin.
The other Republican candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, told ABC’s “This Week” that the Republican convention -- which could happen in July without a clear nominee based on delegate wins -- could be a civics lesson for the country. 
“Kids will spend less time focusing on Bieber and Kardashian and more time focusing on how we elect presidents," said Kasich, who has won only Ohio. "It will be so cool."
Trump on Sunday called for Kasich to drop out of the race, arguing he shouldn't be allowed to continue accumulating delegates if he has no chance of being the nominee.
Trump has 736 pledged delegates, followed by Cruz with 463, then Kasich with 143 -- with 1,237 needed to secure the nomination.
However, Trump, after a difficult week, now trails Cruz in Wisconsin, which holds its primary Tuesday, after some polls showed him leading by double-digits several weeks ago.
Trump said Sunday that Kasich could be considered as a nominee at the GOP convention in July even without competing in the remaining nominating contests.
Trump told reporters at a Milwaukee diner that he had relayed his concerns to Republican National Committee officials at a meeting in Washington this past week.
"He's taking my votes," Trump said about Kasich.
The Kasich campaign tried to flip the script, contending that neither Trump nor Cruz would have enough delegates to win the nomination outright going into the convention.
"Since he thinks it's such a good idea, we look forward to Trump dropping out before the convention," said Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf.
Trump's declaration came as Republican concerns grew about the prospect of convention chaos if Trump fails to lock up his party's nomination -- or even if he does.
Despite the bad week, Trump returned to the confident bravado his supporters have come to expect. Stopping for breakfast at Miss Katie's Diner on Sunday, Trump predicted he'd do "very well" on Tuesday.
"We're going to have a big surprise for you," he said. "We're going to have a big success."
He also had a town hall event in West Allis, Wis.
Cruz held rallies Sunday in Green Bay and Eau Claire, Wis.
In Green Bay, Cruz was joined by former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, former 2016 candidate Carly Fiorina, wife Heidi Cruz and Packer hall of famer Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila.
Cruz joked about Gbaja-Biamila sacking Trump.
“I’m just picturing the shy, retiring Donald Trump back in the pocket looking at Kabeer, jumping over the offensive line and coming in for a sack,” Cruz said. “I think Donald’s hair would stand on end.”
Sanders held a rally in Madison and a town hall event in Wausau, Wis.

Trump regrets Heidi Cruz retweet, digs in on NATO and Asia nukes

While admitting his controversial comments last week on women and abortion -- and the subsequent back-tracking -- may have taken a toll on his campaign going into Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump also took to the airwaves Sunday to defend equally controversial statements that NATO was “obsolete” and that South Korea and Japan “would be better off” if they had nuclear weapons.
In recent days, the first-time candidate retweeted an unflattering picture of primary rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife and suggested NATO is obsolete and “some form of punishment” is needed for women who have abortions if the procedure were illegal.
“I could have done without the tweet,” Trump told “Fox News Sunday.”
Trump wouldn’t agree that he made a mistake on the abortion question, but said, “As a hypothetical question, I would have rather answered it in a different manner.”
He eventually issued two statements to clarify his comments.
Those mistakes appear to be hurting him in Wisconsin, which holds its primary on Tuesday, and with women voters, a key voting bloc in the general election.

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Most polls show Trump trailing Cruz in Wisconsin, after leading him by double-digits in late February. And a recent WSJ/NBC poll shows 70 percent of women have an unfavorable view of him.
However, Trump on Sunday held firm on his position that NATO has become obsolete.
He said the international peacekeeping force doesn’t focus enough on stopping terrorism and that the United States pays too much for what it gets in return.
“It's obsolete,” Trump said. “We're not getting the benefits that we should be getting for the money. We're carrying a lot of countries. … What I said was exactly right. … I think NATO has to be readjusted.”
Trump also stuck by his suggestion that it’s perhaps time for the U.S. to stop paying most of the bill to defend Japan and South Korea against nuclear-armed North Korea, even if that means touching off a nuclear arms race in the Korean peninsula.
“You have Pakistan and you have North Korea. And you have China. And you have Russia. And you have India. And you have the United States and many other countries have nukes,” Trump said. “You already have a nuclear arms race.”
Trump has run his campaign since June in an unabashed style in which he has risen in the polls in part with unapologetic remarks about deporting roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States and a call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants.
On Sunday, the New York real estate magnate still expressed confidence about doing well in Wisconsin and winning the party nomination. He acknowledged, however, being a politician for just eight months and having a “learning curve.”
He also remained defiant regarding his decision to defend campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who has been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly grabbing the arm of a female reporter.
Trump said the reporter, Michelle Fields, originally and falsely claimed she was nearly knocked to the ground and that Lewandowski is a “good, honest man.”
“The easier thing would have been: ‘Corey, you're fired. You're not very good at that, OK?’ But I don't want to ruin him . . . I don't want to destroy him,” Trump said.

Trump doubles-down on allies paying more for US protection, vows to repeal ObamaCare

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doubled-down Sunday night on his comments that the US should “do a better deal” with Japan, South Korea and other allies, saying they should pay more for America’s protection while taking a greater role in their defense — including building their own nuclear weapons.
Responding to questions at a Fox News Channel “On the Record” town hall two days before the Wisconsin primary — where polls show he trails Ted Cruz — Trump also said that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour wasn’t good for business or jobs creation.
"If you start raising that minimum wage, you're going to make a lot of our companies even more non-competitive," he said.
Trump also delved into his plans to change the nation's tax code by "simplifying" it.
"The very rich are probably going to end up paying more, but there's an incentive for them to invest and create jobs in the country," he said.

He also renewed his promise to repeal ObamaCare — though he again wouldn’t offer specifics about what would replace it.

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Trump’s comments capped a full day of defending his controversial statements on abortion, comments about rival Ted Cruz’s wife and American’s continued participation in NATO.
Trump pointed to the deals to defend countries such as Japan, Germany, and South Korea as an example of how the U.S. is a "policemen to the world."
"We defend all these countries, we're not properly reimbursed for the kind of money that we're spending," he said.
"We cannot spend billions and billions and billions of dollars on defending all of these countries," he added.
In recent days, the first-time candidate retweeted an unflattering picture of primary rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife and suggested NATO is obsolete and “some form of punishment” is needed for women who have abortions if the procedure were illegal.
“I could have done without the tweet,” Trump said earlier in the day on “Fox News Sunday.”
Trump wouldn’t agree that he made a mistake on the abortion question, but said, “As a hypothetical question, I would have rather answered it in a different manner.”
He eventually issued two statements to clarify his comments.
Trump held firm on his position that NATO has become obsolete.
He said the international peacekeeping force doesn’t focus enough on stopping terrorism and that the United States pays too much for what it gets in return.
“It's obsolete,” Trump said. “We're not getting the benefits that we should be getting for the money. We're carrying a lot of countries. … What I said was exactly right. … I think NATO has to be readjusted.”
Trump also stuck by his suggestion that it’s perhaps time for the U.S. to stop paying most of the bill to defend Japan and South Korea against nuclear-armed North Korea, even if that means touching off a nuclear arms race in the Korean peninsula.
“You have Pakistan and you have North Korea. And you have China. And you have Russia. And you have India. And you have the United States and many other countries have nukes,” Trump said. “You already have a nuclear arms race.”
Trump has run his campaign since June in an unabashed style in which he has risen in the polls in part with unapologetic remarks about deporting roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States and a call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants.
On Sunday, the New York real estate magnate still expressed confidence about doing well in Wisconsin and winning the party nomination. He acknowledged, however, being a politician for just eight months and having a “learning curve.”