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 "No, I don't anymore," Trump replied, when asked at a CNN town
hall event whether he still supported a pledge he made last year to
support whoever is the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election.
Trump's signing of a loyalty pledge last September was important in
helping him gain credibility within the Republican National
Committee. The pledge was also signed by all his rivals for the
presidential nomination.
His aboutface came as he tries to fend off a challenge from Cruz, a
U.S. senator from Texas who is running second to the New York
billionaire in the race for the 1,237 delegates needed to win the
nomination.
Trump and Cruz were enmeshed in a fight last week involving their
wives, with a Cruz SuperPAC publishing a provocative photo of
Trump's former model wife, Melania, and Trump retaliating by
tweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife, Heidi.
 Cruz, asked earlier at the CNN town hall whether he also would honor
the pledge to support the nominee if it was not himself, declined to
give a straight answer.
"Let me tell you my solution to that," Cruz said. "Donald is not
going to be the GOP nominee. We're going to beat him."
GOP is the acronym for Grand Old Party, a nickname for the
Republican Party.
Trump said he could do without Cruz's support.
"I watched him tonight and I watched how tormented he was when you
asked him that question," Trump told CNN moderator Anderson Cooper.
"I don't want to have him be tormented. Let me just tell you I don’t
want his support, I don't need his support. I don't want him to be
uncomfortable."
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Trump also said he recognized that several of those who have dropped
out of the race might harbor ill feelings towards him, mentioning
former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
and U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Walker endorsed Cruz earlier on Tuesday, with Wisconsin's primary
vote coming up on April 5.
"I drove him out of the race," Trump said of Walker, who abandoned
his presidential bid last autumn. "I drove Jeb Bush out of the race,
I drove Rand Paul out of the race. I understand why they don't like
me."
A third Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Governor John
Kasich, was also tentative about honoring the pledge. He told the
town hall he had been "disturbed by some of the things I’ve seen"
during the campaign, adding, "I want to see how this finishes out."
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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