[BobL]

“He’s also giving them a way out of this Mexican standoff.”

Good point...they will sorely REGRET not taking this opportunity to treat him with some respect - for it may well be their LAST CHANCE to have him on their side.

...and if Trump does win the big prize as a Republican, their Chamber-of-Commerce jobs will be TOAST if they’re not on his good side. He will have that power over the party. They had better take this escape hatch and quickly, as Trump won’t keep it open very long.

[RoosterRedux]

If they don't take this opportunity and Trump goes back to his usual strategy, he will rough them up some more and then offer them a lesser deal.

The only lesser deal I can think of is that next time Trump will demand that some candidate (thinking Walker or Jeb) pull out.

If they don't accept that, he'll to a rinse and repeat.

[RoosterRedux]

BTW, what Trump is using as leverage here is that he has had a good weekend in Iowa and he's had a good week in the polls.

Other old and good deal makers are, I imagine, beginning to take notice of Trump. In fact, I am sure he has made some call to guys like Carl Icahn, Henry Kravis, and Ted Forstmann (you might remember these were names he dropped in his speech yesterday)...google them.

Humorously enough, Ted Forstmann is dead and Trump forgot.