Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s campaign is telling members of Congress he can clinch the nomination with the June primary in California.  

Specifically, the businessman’s campaign is pegging the number at 1,265, north of the 1,237 needed to win on a first ballot vote at the Republican National Convention.  

That’s what Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., told reporters gathered outside a meeting between several representatives and Trump officials led by Collins and California Rep. Duncan D. Hunter.  

“I don’t think any of us are looking for endorsements,” Collins said, noting that members have individual races and primaries yet to run. “But today we were sharing information. We talked about 1,237, but I can tell you we got to 1,265 in a conservative way.”  

Many Republicans have speculated that Trump, who now has 743 committed delegates, will arrive at the GOP convention in July without enough support to claim the nomination outright. That could lead to chaos on the convention floor, as well as back-room machinations to secure delegates.  

Collins dismissed that scenario, saying Trump will amass the support he needs, starting in New York next week.  

“I’m confident he’s going to get 95 out of 95,” of the delegates available in next Tuesday’s Empire State primary, Collins said.  

Collins said the Trump campaign’s own calculation had them getting 85 of the 95 New York delegates, which he called “conservative.”  

“I haven’t heard a single county chairman not state that Trump’s going to win that district,” Collins said.  

The meeting Thursday morning, Collins explained, gave the Trump campaign an opportunity to provide supporters on Capitol Hill with working information to share with colleagues.  

“The sharing of information, which we will bring back to our fellow members, when they say is he going to get to 1,237? The answer is I’m pretty comfortable that there’s a conservative way to get there. Nothing’s guaranteed. So, this was informational,” Collins said  

“We’re going to start holding these every week when we’re is in session.”  

Contact Lesniewski at nielslesniewski@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter at @nielslesniewski.


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