Trump: I Don’t Want to Run As an Independent

HANNITY: “The issue of third party keeps coming up again and again and again. And when it came up last week, I wrote Reince Priebus. I said -- because you had said that you weren't being treated well by the RNC. And I said, Are there any issues between you and Mr. Trump? He wrote me back, and I'm paraphrasing, not specific -- no, he's running for the presidency. My job is to remain neutral. And my hope is, is the best man wins. That's what he said to me. He was asked about this. I want to play it for you.”
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PRIEBUS: “My job is not to call balls and strikes but to treat everyone respectfully and fairly. But certainly, I think our candidates should pledge not to run as a third party candidate. If Hillary Clinton's going to get beat, she's going to get beat by a Republican. And most people that run for president run to win. And if our candidates want to win, then they'll have to run as a Republican.”
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HANNITY: “Can you put this to rest once and for all? You're not planning on running third party. You have no intention –“
TRUMP: “No. Absolutely.”
HANNITY: “And do you have any issues with -- do you have any issues at all with the RNC?”
TRUMP: “So let me just do this. I'm leading in the Republican primaries. I mean, by I think every poll you have in front of you, but I think I'm leading in every poll, doing great in New Hampshire, doing great in Iowa, great places, and we're doing really well. The way we're going to beat the Democrats and Hillary, who would be a disaster -- by the way, she was the worst secretary of state in history. Why is she going to be a good president if she ever makes it? Because I think her e-mails are a criminal thing. They're far beyond what people are talking about. But assuming she runs, I think I'm the one that can beat her. I would much prefer -- I will say, so many people want me to run as an independent. I don't want to do that. And why would I do that? I'm leading -- with all of the Republicans, I'm leading, and in some cases, as you just stated, by a big margin. No, my preference and what I want to do is to run as a Republican and win. And I think I will win. I think I'll win in the primaries and I think I'll win ultimately, and I'll make our country great again. We have so many things to do. We don't have time for other things. And I think doing a third party would be very difficult, and it's not something I want to do. With that being said, I will say -- maybe it's the polls, but the chairman and the RNC, they've treated us with great respect over the last week or so. We're getting along with them great. They respect what we've done and where we've come from. And I think they respect the kind of things I'm saying. So I'm not looking to do that at all. I want to run as a Republican and I want to win as a Republican, and win the big thing so we can take our country back.”
HANNITY: “I think the fear is, is that if you didn't win the primary, that you would leave it open as an option. That's what people wanting to hear you take a stand on that, whether you win or lose, you're going to support the eventual candidate, even though you hope it's you.”
TRUMP: “If I'm treated fairly and I get a good, fair shot at this and I'm not, you know, being sabotaged with all sorts of nonsense and a lot of phony ads and they throw a lot of money into it -- and you know, they'll do ads that are all false, and you know, this and that -- if I get a good shot, a fair shot, I would have no interest in doing that whatsoever. All I want to do is be treated fairly. And I will say, over the last week or so, Reince and the whole group, they've treated us very fairly.”