Republican front-runner Donald Trump pushed back against reports that he might be eying an exit strategy from the 2016 presidential race on Wednesday, telling supporters at a rally in Iowa that he has no intention of leaving the Republican primary he has dominated for months.
“All of the sudden, the next day, headlines say: ‘Trump may get out,’” Trump said. “We’re not going anywhere. You better believe it.”
RELATED: Bill Clinton calls Donald Trump a ‘master brander’
The mogul-turned-candidate was responding the headlines following his interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “If I were doing poorly, if I saw myself going down, if you would stop calling me ‘cause you no longer have interest in Trump because ‘he has no chance,’ I’d go back to my business. I have no problem with that,” Trump told moderator Chuck Todd.
But at the rally Wednesday, Trump spoke broadly about his big plans for the country if he is elected president. As has become his custom, he highlighted his strong poll numbers as proof of his success and long-term look at this race.
“I want to plateau now. I’m satisfied. We want to plateau,” he said. Indeed, while Trump’s numbers are strong now, it’s historically difficult to maintain such a strong lead for 13 months, as candidates like Rudy Giuliani, Rick Perry and Hillary Clinton have learned in the past few elections.
Still, Trump took a more measured approach about his prospects, declaring that he would talk about “if” he becomes president, not “when.”
“Honestly, look, I’m running against a lot of different people wand who knows what happens, I’d like to say when, but I’m going to say if, I don’t want to be too braggadocios,” Trump said.
Jane Timm