WASHINGTON – Republican front-runner Donald Trump refused Sunday to rule out a third-party presidential run, as he vowed to bring back waterboarding as an interrogation technique for suspected terrorists.
Backing away from a signed pledge he made in September to support the Republican nominee, Trump told ABC’s “This Week,’ that’s he’s now taking a wait and see approach on whether to run as an independent.
“I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly,” he said.
His comments comes as fresh polling shows Trump is the undisputed Republican front-runner — even as establishment Republicans are plotting attacks to take him down.
“If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine,” Trump said. “All I want … is a level playing field.”
From the start, the billionaire mogul had threatened to not support the Republican presidential candidate and challenge the nominee as an independent candidate.
But the GOP leadership successfully pressured Trump in September to sign a pledge of allegiance to the party.
Trump held up the signed promise at the time and said: “I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principle for which it stands.”
Meanwhile Sunday, Trump made a case to bring back waterboarding.
“I would bring it back, yes,” Trump said. “I think waterboarding is peanuts compared to what they’re doing to us, what they did to James Foley when they chopped off his head.”
He also didn’t back away for comments he’d support tracking Muslims in the US.
“I definitely want a database and other checks and balances. We want to go with watch lists. We want to go with databases,” he said.
The real estate tycoon also doubled down on his assertion thousands of Arabs in New Jersey cheered the World Trade Center’s collapse on 9/11 despite police disputing that account.
“It did happen,” Trump insisted.
Trump’s comments about having Muslims register in database last week and again Sunday have united GOP donors backing a range of candidates to fund an ad campaign blasting Trump. The $2.5 million ad blitz against Trump in New Hampshire was started by a pro-John Kasich super PAC, called New Day for America.
“I am 100 percent behind Jeb Bush and I’m supporting his effort but I’m also contributing to New Day for America because the educated people in this country, those who believe in hope, not hate, need to say enough is enough and stand up to Donald Trump,” said California donor Jeff Le Sage told Reuters.
In the last two days, 10 new donors who support other candidates, like Bush and Marco Rubio, have put money behind the ad campaign. They believe they need to unite against Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.
Kasich said he won’t stand for Trump’s comments about a Muslim database.
“I’ve been in a virtual war with Donald Trump over these things,” Kasich said told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I flat out condemn the idea that we were going to have Muslims register.”
Trump brushed off any potential threat from Kasich’s allies.
“He’s going nowhere. Let him do his ads. Anybody that does an ad against me, it will be hit by 10 times. And that’s the story,” Trump said.