Donald Trump said Friday that he doesn't want to run for the presidency as an independent, but at the same time, he'd find it hard to support anybody in the rest of the field of candidates.
"The best way to win is to win as a Republican," Trump told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program in a lengthy telephone interview " ... I do not want to do independent at all."
Earlier this week, Trump told
The Hill that the Republican National Committee has not been supportive of his campaign, and that there are many people who want him to run as a third-party candidate if he doesn't win the nomination.
Story continues below video.
"I'll have to see how I'm being treated by the Republicans," Trump said. "Absolutely, if they're not fair, that would be a factor."
And Friday, he told the MSNBC program that if he's "treated poorly, that's one thing," but there is always the chance that he may just "sort of, like, shift off into the moonlight," he said. "I hope that won’t be the case. I hope that won’t be the case, but it could very well be."
Currently, though, Trump said the RNC is treating him "with tremendous respect."
Trump also complained that the show and hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are not mentioning him and his campaign enough, a statement both anchors found astounding, as the show has been full of discussion about Trump and his campaign.
"You know we all love you and Mika, but I was listening to you talk about [Jeb] Bush and [Marco] Rubio and a couple of others," Trump told Scarborough, "and you sort of forgot to mention my name even though I'm creaming them all in the polls."
Brzezinski commented that Trump may have been upset over an earlier segment in which panelists on the show were discussing the most recent candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and whether he could defeat other candidates.
Brzezinski noted that Scarborough had talked about the other candidates during that segment without mentioning that Trump currently holds the top of many national polls.
Scarborough was incredulous about the statement, as much of the morning program's discussions on Friday and throughout the week have centered around Trump's campaign.
"Donald, what are you talking about?" he said. "What are you talking about? We've been talking about you for a week. What are you talking about, Donald? How thin is your skin? I've been talking about you for a week!"
Trump also on the morning show reiterated his calls for enhanced border control, but said he is a "very big believer" in the merit system.
"Some of these people have been here, they've done a good job. You know, in some cases, sadly they've been living under the shadows," he said, while reiterating that securing the border and removing "the bad ones" in the country permanently should come first.