Donald Trump just handed the Republican Party a major gift

Donald Trump pledge

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has signed a pledge of "allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands."
The pledge, circulated by the Republican National Committee to GOP candidates, is aimed at boxing in Trump. He hasmultiple times threatened to run as a third-party candidate in the event Republicans do not treat him "fairly" and attempt to push him out of the race.
Trump said Thursday that he was satisfied with how he had been treated by the national party thus far. 
"The RNC has treated me with great respect," Trump said.
The relationship between Trump and the RNC has been fraught since his bombastic entry into the race in mid-June. He has drawn intense scrutiny over his comments on immigration, his remark on the war record of Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), and his feud with Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
Trump has said all along that he wants to run as a Republican. But he has floated the third-party threat as "leverage." The first Republican presidential debate last month began with fireworks when the candidates were asked by Fox News moderator Bret Baier whether they would vow to support the eventual GOP nominee and "pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person."
Only Trump raised his hand to indicate he couldn't make that commitment.
"I cannot say I have to respect the person that — if it's not me — the person that wins," Trump said.
"If I do win, and I'm leading by quite a bit, that's what I want to do. I can totally make that pledge: If I'm the nominee, I will pledge that I will not run as an independent," Trump said, adding, "And I am discussing it with everybody. I'm talking about a lot of leverage. We want to win and we will win. But I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee."
As some observers have noted, the pledge is not a binding contract but only a political document. Trump did say, however, that he sees "no circumstances under which I would tear up that pledge."

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