Donald Trump reneges on promise to support Republican presidential nominee if it is not him

All three of the Republican candidates have now stepped away from a pledge to support the eventual nominee

The prospect for open warfare breaking out within the Republican party has become ever more likely after Donald Trump renounced his promise to support whomever becomes the party’s candidate.

Last autumn there was much speculation about whether the tycoon would agree to support the eventual nominee, rather than running as a third party candidate. He eventually held a press conference and produced with something of a flourish, a piece of paper he claimed was the “pledge of loyalty” he had just signed in the presence of Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus.

Yet after weeks during which the Republican establishment has done everything it can to halt the billionaire’s rise, Mr Trump on Tuesday night indicated that he was no longer standing by the loyalty pledge.

Ted Cruz has told Donald Trump to leave his wife 'the hell alone' (Getty)

Appearing at a so-called “town hall” meeting organised by CNN, Mr Trump was asked if he stood by the pledge to support the eventual nominee. He replied: “No, I don’t anymore. No, we’ll see who it is.”

Mr Trump’s closest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, had previously also promised he would support the party’s nominee for president. Yet after a series of ugly spats involving the two candidates wives and sensational tabloid allegations - denied by MrCruz - that he was hiding five affairs, the Texas senator has also refused to repeat that promise.

When the question was put to him, he replied: “I am not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family. Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We are going to beat him.”

The third Republican candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has positioned himself as a traditional conservative in contrast to Mr Trump’s populism and Mr Cruz’s conservative purism, has also suggested he would not back Mr Trump as the candidate.

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich has positioned himself as a traditional conservative (Reuters)

He said that if the nominee was someone who “is really hurting the country and dividing the country,” then he he was not sure he would support them.

Pressed by the CNN moderator as to whether he was saying he thought that was what Mr Trump was doing, Mr Kasich declined to elaborate.

The row adds further fuel to an already heated Republican campaign. While Mr Trump remains the frontrunner, it is very possible that he will not secure the number of delegates he needs to secure the nomination outright before the party’s convention in July. Such a scenario has not taken place since 1976.

A number of senior Republican figures have already made clear their plans to try and stop Mr Trump if, as many political observers believe, the convention becomes “contested”. It raises the prospect of no little chaos and emotion.

On Tuesday night, Mr Trump also stepped up his support for his campaign manager who has been charged with battery, after a female reporter, Michelle Fields, said he manhandled her and left her arms bruised.

“She’s not a baby,” Mr Trump said of the reporter, suggesting that she had overstated what happened.