Donald Trump claimed Thursday to have secured the support of enough delegates to become the Republican presidential nominee, vaulting past the threshold of 1,237 needed to win the party's primary race. The accomplishment caps an extraordinary rise by a political neophyte whose campaign was widely derided as a distraction last June when he first announced his candidacy.
Trump eventually swept 16 Republican rivals aside, and early this month was left as the last man standing when his remaining two challengers dropped out of the race. "The folks behind me got us right over the top from North Dakota," Trump said at a press conference in Bismarck, standing onstage with some 15 unbound delegates from the midwestern state who committed their support to the real estate tycoon. "I'm so honoured," he added.
Several US media outlets, citing their own analysis of pledged delegates and unbound delegates who announced their commitment to Trump, said earlier Thursday that Trump reached or surpassed the 1,237 mark. The Republican Party will not make the delegate results official until its national convention in July, when delegates actually cast their votes for the nominee. According to the US news agency the Associated Press which first reported Trump crossing the threshold, Trump now has the backing of 1,238 delegates.
It said the real estate tycoon's delegate count rose when some unbound Republican delegates, including Oklahoma party chairwoman Pam Pollard, said they would support him at the convention. ABC News reported that Trump has now secured 1,239 delegates, while CNN lifted its Trump delegate estimate to 1,237 Thursday, citing unbound delegates who said they would back the billionaire.
Trump was already the Republican presumptive nominee, following a spectacular and unlikely run for the White House that has thoroughly upended American politics. He was assured of reaching the magic number at the latest on June 7, when California and four other states vote on the final day of the Republican primary race. But turmoil continues to dog his campaign, while Republicans grapple with bitter divisions within their party.