I doubt Trump would want to spend his own money and devote the time to run as a third party candidate after running the gauntlet of the Rep primaries. And then there are the problems associated with getting on the ballots in each of the states. Not going to happen.
>> I doubt Trump would want to spend his own money and devote the time to run as a third party candidate <<
I couldn’t argue with you if we were talking about normal politics.
But “normal” doesn’t necessarily apply to Trump’s methodology.
So it’s hard for me to dismiss entirely the possibility that he might, against all odds, try some kind of independent or 3rd party bid — surviving mostly on the free TV publicity he so skillfully can generate.
Moreover, he wouldn’t necessarily have to win a yuge total of votes, in order to derail a Cruz or Rubio general election campaign. Six or seven per cent of the national total, concentrated in a few “purple” states, might do the job and bring Trump a lot of personal satisfaction.