Donald Trump will soon roll out the next phase of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination that includes his first television ads — he plans to spend more than $20 million on them this year — as well as appearances by his wife and daughter, policy proposals and a new book that he says will serve as his campaign manifesto.
In an interview with
The Washington Post, the front-runner said that the strategy is to develop a more traditional campaign, while leaving his combative style intact.
"It’s going to be the same thing," Trump said. "You've got to have a personality. You’ve got to be able to speak your mind. You’ve got to have some thoughts that are correct."
To that end, Trump will be involved in virtually every element of planning this phase. He's editing proofs of his new book,
"Crippled America," by hand himself.
"It’s actually the hardest I've worked on a book since 'The Art of the Deal,'" he told the Post, referencing his 1987 bestseller. "I don’t want to have a stupid statement in the book that people are going to say, 'Hey, why did he say that?'"
While the billionaire developer is financing his own campaign, Trump said he originally budgeted $20 million for television ads through the middle of last month. None of that has been spent, however, since he has been a staple on television news shows.
"It’s been all Trump, all the time," he told the Post. "If you had an ad, people would O.D."
The campaign has hired a Florida-based advertising firm that is new to politics — and Trump is helping to hone the pitch to voters.
"I have such a great concept — in fact, so good," Trump said, declining to specify.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, said that they were ready to spend much more than $20 million on advertising this year — "whatever it takes."
The ads, he said, will be "non-traditional," also declining to comment further.
Neither Trump nor Lewandowski named the firm, the Post reports.
Trump acknowledged, however, that seeking the White House has created added pressures and demands unlike in the business world.
"It’s very unforgiving," he told the Post. "If you make a mistake that can be very easily explained, it can still be turned around and then you have three bad days of press over something that actually wasn’t even a big deal."
The field of 15 candidates will eventually narrow as the Republican National Convention nears, Trump said. The four-day event will be held in Cleveland in July.
"I think you’ll go past New Hampshire and you’ll have four or five people left," he said.
The campaign has also hired a firm that is working to qualify Trump for the ballot in all 50 states.
"I’ll be happy to be the underestimated campaign," Lewandowski told the Post. "If I don’t get Mr. Trump on the ballot, which is the nuts-and-bolts part of my job, I should be fired immediately."
And regardless of how Trump finishes in the polls in the meantime, the campaign has no exit plan.
"We’re going to the convention — that’s it," Lewandowski told the Post. "One delegate or 2,000 and change, we’re going to the convention — and there’s nobody who can get him out of the race."