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WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president Thursday, completing an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter fall campaign.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - John Trandem wanted to be the delegate who would put Donald Trump over the top, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.</p> <p>But when he was contacted by an Associated Press reporter, the AP delegate count stood at 1,235 - two delegates short.</p>

Donald Trump has announced plans to hold a victory news conference in just over an hour in Bismarck, North Dakota (it’s the capital), where Guardian politics reporter Ben Jacobs is laying in wait. DT Jr celebrates victory: — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 26, 2016 1237 ✔️

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president Thursday, completing an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter fall campaign. Trump was put over the top in the Associated Press delegate count by a small number of the party's unbound delegates who told the AP they would support him at the national convention in July. Among them is Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard. "I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn't like where our country is," Pollard said....

Glenn Beck admitted that he’s been wrong every step of the way about Donald Trump this presidential election cycle. Beck went on CNN to discuss a possible jump aboard Trump’s candidacy, despite calling him a “pathological narcissistic sociopath.” He told host Alisyn Camerota that “Unlike some politicians I say what I mean and mean what I say.” “I’m not suddenly in love with Donald Trump or a supporter of Donald Trump,” Beck said, while also saying that he’s not endorsing anyone in the race. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx was the first politician he had ever endorsed. “I will tell you...

Democrats on Capitol Hill have discussed the possiblity of removing Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz from her position prior to the party's national convention this summer in Philadelphia. According to The Hill, some Democrats believe that Wasserman Schultz's ongoing battles with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have made her too divisive a figure to unite the party ahead of this fall's election campaign. "There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s head on," one Democratic senator who supports frontrunner Hillary Clinton told The Hill. "I...

Previously there were possible real-world scenarios which justified the continuing anti-Trump position: 1. A dark horse white knight makes an 11th hour entry and runs third party. This is now virtually impossible, and soon will be entirely impossible. By the way, the application to get on the ballot in Texas has already passed -- so, um, good luck with this one. 2. Trump would prove so toxic in the polls that it would cause the party to do whatever was necessary to install a new candidate, even at the expense of blowing up the party to do it. I thought...

Hijra, or jihad by emigration, is a fundamental tenet of Islam hearkening back to the earliest days of Mohammed’s war to establish hegemony over the cities of southwest Arabia. The most notable Hijra was the flight of Mohammed from Mecca to the largely Jewish city of Yathrib, now the completely Muslim city of Medina. While the story of how Yathrib came to be Medina is too long to recount here, suffice it to say that by fleeing the city of Mecca, where they appeared to be in danger of being eliminated, and appearing at Yathrib as refugees, Mohammed and his...

Primary results and predictions

Leaders of the Republican Party have begun internal deliberations over what would be fundamental changes to the way its presidential nominees are chosen, a recognition that the chaotic process that played out this year is seriously flawed and helped exacerbate tensions within the party. In a significant shift, Republican officials said it now seemed unlikely that the four states to vote first would all retain their cherished place on the electoral calendar, with Nevada as the most probable casualty. Party leaders are even going so far as to consider diluting the traditional status of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina...

Politico declares Trump winner in WA

Today at 11:00 PM EDT, polls in the last primary held in May - Washington State - will close. Primaries in both Republican and Democratic contests.

Washington State holds its Republican primary on Tuesday, and with one candidate left in the race, there's not too much drama about the outcome. But in a twist — and what would the 2016 race be without a twist? — 40 of Washington's 41 delegates selected Saturday to attend the Republican National Convention in July are Ted Cruz partisans. Cruz supporters outnumbered Donald Trump supporters at the state GOP convention in Pasco, and they were better organized, pushing through the Cruz slate of delegates over occasional protests from Trump backers, who noted repeatedly that Cruz is no longer in the...

After Ted Cruz dropped out of the presidential race, his campaign staffers boxed up their mementos and souvenirs as they prepared to shutter the Houston headquarters, and the Texan announced that he would seek reelection to the U.S. Senate. Yet Cruz’s team didn't abandon the race for the White House entirely. It still filed a slate of potential presidential delegates for California’s June 7 primary, and continues to monitor delegate selection in states that already voted in the GOP nominating process. The end result is that Cruz will have more than 550 loyalists attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland...

#NeverTrump withers. If #NeverTrump was on a stretcher, its doctor would be saying “call it” and looking up at the clock right about now. When Cruz left the race it seemed like the movement might have legs, but whatever life it once held has been steadily bleeding out ever since. As Trump gets stronger (and polls better) the odds that #NeverTrumpers could achieve their goals have all but collapsed. Now, one of #NeverTrump’s top dogs is wandering away from the effort. Mitt Romney - a man who knows a thing or two about suspending campaigns - has decided it’s time...

Many were probably just hoping for a brokered convention to derail the New York businessman. These “experts” were not simply wrong, they were drop-dead wrong. Trump will not only reach the number of delegates it takes to win the nomination outright on Tuesday June 7th, he has won the most primary votes of any GOP presidential candidate in modern history. Based on astute political analysis, who would have guessed? From Gateway Pundit: George W. Bush won 10.8 million votes in the 2000 Republican primary. Donald Trump has won 11.1 million votes so far this year. Donald Trump won Oregon tonight...

Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer reacted to the list put forth by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of who he is considering to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court should he be elected president.

<p>The New York Times’ front-page article last Saturday on Donald J. Trump’s dealings with women forced me into a weekend of self-examination. As much as I support Trump, this isn’t a cult of personality. He’s not Mao, Kim Jong-un or L. Ron Hubbard. We can like our candidates, but still acknowledge their flaws. No one’s perfect.</p>

The names are at the link.