Escalator ride to HELL....

Trump's moment of triumph

The GOP gets a preview of its nominee's version of "party unity."

By Ben Schreckinger

Third time’s the charm for Donald Trump.

For the third Tuesday in a row, the billionaire businessman appeared in the lobby of Trump Tower to ring in a decisive victory. This time, he could assume the mantle of the presumptive Republican nominee, all but guaranteed to carry the party’s banner into November following Ted Cruz’s primary night dropout.

The moment capped off the first stage of the most improbable presidential campaign in recent memory, which has brought the businessman from novelty to the brink of the Republican nomination in the course of 10 and a half months. It also brought a flood of emotion to senior campaign staff — Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski, Deputy Campaign Manager Michael Glassner, Social Media Director Dan Scavino and adviser Stephen Miller — who huddled in the front of the podium to watch Cruz concede on a television set up on the side of the press pen and warmly embraced in the minutes between the Texas senator’s remarks and their boss’s.

No stranger to reveling in his successes, Trump used his victory speech to make amends with party leaders he has more often mocked and threatened. “All my life, I’ve been in competitions, different competitions, whether its sports or business,” he said. “I have to tell you that I have met some of the most incredible competitors that I’ve ever competed against right here in the Republican Party.”

Trump took special pains to praise the Texas senator, just hours after accusing his father of being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. "Just so you understand, Ted Cruz, I don't know if he likes me or if he doesn't like me, but he is one hell of a competitor," Trump said of his vanquished rival. "And he has got an amazing future. He's got an amazing future. So I want to congratulate Ted. I know how tough it is."

"What Ted did is really a brave thing to do and a great thing to do because we want to bring unity to the Republican Party,” he said. “We have to bring unity."

Trump thanked Reince Priebus, with whom he has been consulting frequently in recent weeks, and acknowledged the stress the contest has placed on the Republican National Committee chairman. “It was not an easy job when he had 17 egos and I guess he’s now done to one,” Trump said.

The businessman also acknowledged the flood of party leaders who once scorned him but are now embracing him. “They’re calling us now and they’re saying, ‘We’d love to get on the train.’ The Trump Train we call it,” he said.

“I actually spoke to one today who was vicious, and I mean this guy was unbelievable,” Trump said, adding that he asked the unidentified man, “‘After what you said about me how can you possibly join our team?’ And he said, ‘Mr. Trump don’t even think about it. Don’t worry about it. It won’t be a problem.” Trump chalked up the sudden reversal of attitude to the man being a “politician.”

Trump opened his remarks by thanking his family, including his late brother and parents, his staff — “Paul, Corey, Hope” — and former Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight.

Later, he pivoted to his presumptive opponent. “We’re going after Hillary Clinton. She will not be a great president. She will not be a good president. She will be a poor president. She does not understand trade,” Trump said.

He said he would be going to West Virginia, where he is scheduled to hold a rally on Thursday, and vowed to return coal jobs to the state.

After Trump left to celebrate, a group of staff and well-wishers mingled in the lobby, which soon dwindled to a handful of supporters posing in front of an American flag, wearing hats reading “Make America Great Again.”