Donald Trump and Ted Cruz battle for delegates at RNC meeting in Florida


The Republican National Committee began holding its three-day spring meeting at a seaside resort in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday, and the Ted Cruz and Donald Trump campaigns are there courting Republican officials, especially in states that haven't voted yet. Cruz himself met with RNC members, telling reporters that even after his loss in New York, "what's clear today is that we are headed to a contested convention." If Trump doesn't win on the first ballot in Cleveland, "I believe we will have a tremendous advantage in that battle," Cruz said.
Trump was campaigning in Indiana on Wednesday, decrying the RNC's "rigged, crooked system," but his new political director, Rick Wiley, was at the luxury Florida resort holding private meetings with GOP officials. Other top aides will make Trump's case to RNC officials on Thursday. Cruz and Gov. John Kasich can no longer win the Republican nomination outright, so they are working to stop Trump from getting a majority of delegates.
Trump, after losing several state delegate fights with Cruz, has beefed up his staff with veteran campaign consultants, and he says he is going to start using a teleprompter for some speeches and, for the first time, hire a speechwriter. "The campaign is evolving and transitioning, and so am I," Trump told The Wall Street Journal. "I'll be more effective and more disciplined," he added. "I'm not going to blow it." But while he's hiring someone to write his speeches, "I'm still the same candidate," Trump told The Journal. "Can you imagine how upset my supporters would be after waiting for hours?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Book reviews: 'Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land' and 'No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson'
Feature A promised land in Texas and the takedown of a healthcare giant
-
Silicon Valley's military ambitions
Feature Tech companies are replacing military contractors with AI, drones and battlefield systems
-
Deportations: Miller's threat to the courts
Feature The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus to speed up deportations without due process
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges
-
Germany lifts Kyiv missile limits as Trump, Putin spar
speed read Russia's biggest drone and missile attacks of the war prompted Trump to post that Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!'
-
Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
speed read The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Judge scolds DOJ over Newark mayor arrest
speed read Ras Baraka was arrested during a May 9 surprise visit to a migrant detention facility
-
Trump lectures South Africa president on 'white genocide'
speed read Trump has cut off aid to South Africa over his demonstrably false genocide claims
-
Trump twists House GOP arms on megabill
speed read The bill will provide a $350 billion boost to military and anti-immigration spending and 'cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs'