U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump holds up his signed pledge during a new conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan.LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters
Waving a pledge aloft, Donald Trump ended Republicans' worst nightmare and Democrats' wildest dreams on Thursday when he promised not to launch an independent bid for president in 2016.
The billionaire property magnate told a news conference at the glittering Trump Tower in New York City with characteristic flourish that he pledged "total support and loyalty to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands."
And The Donald, who has sometimes shifted positions, promised he could "see no circumstances under which I would change that pledge."
For months, Mr. Trump, who holds a commanding lead over the other 16 declared Republican candidates, has refused to rule out running as an independent. For many Republicans, that raised the spectre of another conservative maverick billionaire, Ross Perot, who ran unsuccessfully in 1992 as an independent but won considerable voter support. Many Republicans still believe, incorrectly, that Mr. Perot put Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House and denied George H.W. Bush a second four-year term. Although exit polls showed Mr. Perot's support came almost equally from Democrats and Republicans, fear that another self-funded independent bid could again deliver the presidency to a Clinton, this time the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, has been a recurring summer-long nightmare for Republicans.
The possibility that Mr. Trump, if he failed to secure the GOP nomination, might vindictively launch an independent bid and split the right wing vote has stirred dreams among Democrats of three consecutive presidential terms for the first time since the Second World War.
Mr. Trump's turnabout comes only weeks after he sent shock waves through the first Republican debate, watched by more than 20 million people, when he pointedly refused to join all the others in a pledge to back the Republican nominee, whoever it is.
On Thursday, after weeks of pressure from the Republican National Committee, party grandees and public taunts from some other presidential hopefuls, Mr. Trump boasted: "I've signed the pledge."
However, there is nothing legally binding about the piece of paper the bombastic billionaire posed with for the cameras.
The pledge requires candidates to "endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is," adding: "I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate, nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party."
Mr. Trump said he expects to be the Republican nominee, although many analysts believe his early lead will erode once the primaries get under way next year.
Backed by supporters, Mr. Trump fielded questions and insisted his bid was the only way for the next president of the United States to be free from owing favours to big contributors.
"This is a self-funded campaign. We don't want money, we don't need money," Mr. Trump said, adding: "I'm not controlled by lobbyists."
He accused other presidential hopefuls, including both Ms. Clinton and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor seeking to follow his father and older brother to the Oval Office, of being beholden to special interests and their big-money bag men.
"They have total control over Jeb and Hillary," Mr. Trump said of "those people who are putting up millions of dollars."
"People are offering me millions of dollars and I keep turning them down. …. I feel a little foolish turning them down," he added, but promised to continue to do so.