Donald Trump's early success in his campaign to get the Republican nomination for the presidency has seen him shoot to the top of a number of opinion polls, but on the back of reports that the party want him out of the race, he has hinted that he's open to running as an independent, if needs be.
The celebrity businessman spoke on ABC's This Week program, where he was asked about a story published in the Wall Street Journal that claimed the Republican party was looking to unite against him to force him out of the race.
The story stated that they would mount a "guerilla campaign" against Trump to "defeat and destroy" his candidacy, and Trump was asked if he would consider still running as an independent candidate, something which he had hinted at before on the campaign trail.
He refused to rule out that possibility on the show, saying "I'm going to have to see what happens. I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly. You know, when I did this, I said I have to be treated fairly. If I'm treated fairly, I'm fine. All I want is a level playing field".
The possibility of Trump running as an independent could prove problematic for the GOP, as highlighted by CNBC's Rachel Maddow a few weeks ago when she somewhat jokingly stated that he'd manufactured a "genius" deal for himself.
Maddow highlighted that if he runs as an independent, he could split the Republican vote and allow the democratic candidate (most likely Hillary Clinton) to win. That does seem to be a real worry of some in the party, and as Trump pointed out on This Week "I'm leading every poll by a lot. It's not even a little bit anymore, it's a lot".
With those figures behind him, Trump can argue that he's tapping into some very real frustrations that grassroots members of the Republican party have with the other candidates, and that they're listening with intent to what he has to say. If he were to decide to bow out of the race, his endorsement could prove very important for those who remain in the contest, but he will be hoping that the threat of him running as an independent will be enough to keep those plotting against him in the party at bay.
