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 His vow of loyalty was something of a victory for the Republican
National Committee in its efforts to rein in the billionaire, who
leads opinion polls while at the same time upsetting mainstream
Republicans with his brash style.
But the pledge does not appear to be legally binding and does
nothing to halt Trump's personal attacks against Republican rivals
and stinging rhetoric on issues like immigration that have shaken up
the race for the nomination.
At a news conference in his own Trump Tower in Manhattan,
the property magnate waved the loyalty pledge, signed in a thick
black marker, in the air for TV cameras.
"I see no circumstances under which I would tear up that pledge," he
said.
 Trump had previously refused to rule out a third-party bid, drawing
boos from the crowd in Ohio last month at the first full Republican
debate.
An independent Trump candidacy could split support for the
Republican Party and give the Democrats a huge boost by taking
many blue-collar male Republican voters with him.
He said on Thursday he received "absolutely nothing other than the
assurance that I would be treated fairly" in return for signing the
pledge.
The reality TV star had come under intense pressure in recent weeks
from the RNC and its chairman, Reince Priebus, who met with him on
Thursday.
"It reflects a lot of behind the scenes work," an RNC official said.
Priebus announced in a statement later on Thursday that all 17
Republican candidates had agreed to the pledge.
BUSH GOADING
Trump may also have been reacting to goading from rival Jeb Bush,
who this week released a video accusing him of being a Democrat in
disguise and holding liberal positions on abortion rights, taxes and
healthcare.
"I don’t know what motivated (Trump) specifically, but the problem
is that it’s a non-binding deal," said Dave Carney, an unaligned
Republican strategist in New Hampshire. He said the pledge had some
meaning during the primary process, which is run by state parties,
but not during the general election, which is organized by state
governments.
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Almost two months after reaching the top of opinion polls among
Republicans, Trump has come under sustained fire for the first time
from Bush, the former governor of Florida.
Reuters/Ipsos polling showed Trump with support among nearly 31
percent of self-identified Republicans as of Tuesday, with Bush at
nearly 12 percent, behind former neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
http://bit.ly/1hWTSGh
Trump fired a salvo back on Thursday in a fight with Bush over
immigrants and the role of English.
"I think that when you get right down to it, we're a nation that
speaks English and I think while we are in this nation we should be
speaking English," he said. "Whether people like it or not, that's
how we assimilate."
In turn, Bush made fun of Trump's pledge by tweeting a photograph of
a piece of paper with the words "Voted Republican since 1972," on it
and signed by Bush.
Political parties at the state level often ask candidates to sign
loyalty pledges, but it is unprecedented for Republicans in a
presidential election.
Another of the Republican candidates, New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie, said the Trump pledge was "just a little too much drama."
(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell and Alina Selyukh in
Washington and Steve Holland in Hampton, N.H.; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman and Peter Cooney)
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