Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's top lieutenants
told skeptical GOP leaders Thursday that their candidate has been
"projecting an image" so far in the 2016 primary season and "the part
that he's been playing is now evolving" in a way that will improve his
standing among general election voters.
In a recording of the closed-door meeting obtained by
the Associated Press, Trump's newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort,
made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has
two personalities: one in private and one onstage.
"When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about
the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an
image that's for that purpose," Manafort said, adding "You'll start to
see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real
different guy."
Manafort said Trump had acknowledged the need to moderate his personality ahead of a possible general election campaign.
"The part that he's been playing is evolving into the
part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because
he had first to complete the first phase" he claimed. "The negatives
will come down. The image is going to change."
The message was welcomed by some party officials but criticized by others who suggested it raised doubts about his authenticity.
"He's trying to moderate. He's getting better," said
former presidential candidate Ben Carson, a Trump ally who was part of
the GOP's front-runner's RNC outreach team.
While Trump's top advisers were promising Republican
leaders that the GOP front-runner would moderate his message, the
candidate was telling voters he wasn't ready to act presidential.
"I just don't know if I want to do it yet," Trump
said during a raucous rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday that
was frequently interrupted by protesters.
"At some point, I'm going to be so presidential that
you people will be so bored," he said, predicting that the size of his
crowds would dwindle if he dialed back his rhetoric.
As Trump continues to rail against "a rigged"
nomination process, he sent Manafort and his newly hired political
director, Rick Wiley, to help improve relationships with party officials
at the RNC's spring meeting in Hollywood, Fla.
"He might not win some of these blue states, but you can make the Democrats spend money and time," Wiley said.
Trump's team also signaled to RNC members a fresh
willingness to dip into the New York real estate mogul's personal
fortune to fund his presidential bid, in addition to helping the
national committee raise money, a promise that comes just as Trump
launches his first big television advertising campaign in a month.
His campaign reserved about $2 million worth of air
time in soon-to-vote Pennsylvania and Indiana, advertising tracker
Kantar Media's CMAG shows.
"He's willing to spend what is necessary to finish this out. That's a big statement from him," Manafort said in the briefing.
Trump is increasingly optimistic about his chances in
five states holding primary contests Tuesday: Rhode Island,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. He is now the only
Republican candidate who can possibly collect the 1,237-delegate
majority needed to claim the nomination before the party's July
convention.
Chief rival Ted Cruz hopes Trump will fall short of a
nomination-clinching delegate majority so that he can turn enough
delegates to his side at the convention to give him the prize.
The political posturing came as Trump sparked new
criticism by addressing the debate over which bathrooms transgender
people should use.
Speaking at a town-hall event on NBC's "Today" show
Thursday, Trump said North Carolina's bathroom law has caused
unnecessary strife and transgender people should be able to choose which
bathroom to use.
"There have been very few complaints the way it is,"
Trump said. "People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is
appropriate."
Cruz lashed out at Trump's "support of grown men
using women's restrooms." The Texas senator called Trump's position "a
reckless policy that will endanger our loved ones."
Trump also said the plan to swap Jackson for Tubman
on the $20 bill is an act of "pure political correctness." He and
Carson have both suggested putting Tubman on the $2 bill instead.