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)Ted Cruz plans to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency, a stunning turn of events after a contentious primary filled with nasty personal attacks and a dramatic snub at the Republican National Convention, CNN has learned.

Donald Trump may be on the cusp of bagging an endorsement from one of the most prominent NeverTrump holdouts, former primary rival Ted Cruz. Sources close to the Trump campaign have confirmed Cruz is close to endorsing his former — and sometimes bitter — GOP rival. Talks between Cruz staff and the Trump camp have been regular in recent weeks, and have grown more serious as Trump has closed the gap with Hillary Clinton in key battleground states.

Ted Cruz supporters were alarmed Wednesday at suggestions that he was on the verge of endorsing Donald Trump. They worry that the Texas senator could squander his brand as a fighter — and goodwill earned among many through his stubborn refusal to back his party's nominee — if he caves with nothing to show for it. Cruz has held out on the grounds that Trump is insufficiently conservative, and because Trump attacked his wife and father down the stretch of their heated battle for the Republican nomination. The senator even took the extraordinary step of declining to endorse Trump during...

"Look, I fought his son very hard. It was a very tough battle — Jeb, and Jeb lost. He was expected to win," Trump told Time Warner News prior to a rally in North Carolina Wednesday. "He was expected to be the nominee and he lost." "We're leading all over, and we seem to be doing very well. But I fought him and it was a very nasty contest. It was very nasty and I can understand that," Trump said. "Frankly, if I were him, maybe I'd go that direction too. Look, Jeb Bush signed a pledge. He didn't honor...

RNC chair Reince Priebus is facing backlash after suggesting that former Republican presidential hopefuls considering a 2020 White House bid may face challenges if they refuse to support Donald Trump. “People who agreed to support the nominee, that took part in our process, they used tools from the RNC,” Priebus told John Dickerson CBS News’ Face the Nation. “Those people need to get on board. And if they’re thinking they’re going to run again someday, I think we’re going to evaluate the process…and I don’t think it’s going to be easy for them” In a fiery rebuttal, John Weaver, chief...

RNC chief Reince Priebus threatened John Kasich, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush today on “Face the Nation” after their refusal to endorse record-setting GOP nominee Donald Trump.Priebus said the RNC may block future runs by the Republican candidates who used tools from the RNC, then lied and refused to endorse the GOP presidential nominee. Bush, Kasich and Cruz have yet to endorse Donald Trump. The pro-Hillary website Redstate reported: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus during an appearance on Sunday’s edition CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said that it’s time for Donald Trump’s former primary challengers to support his campaign. Priebus...

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday suggested he could say “never mind” to the “Never Trump” candidates should they try to make another run for the presidency. Priebus said the former primary challengers who’ve refused to support Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump could face consequences if they fail to back Trump in the stretch-run to Election Day. “Those people need to get on board,” Priebus told “Face the Nation.” “And if they’re thinking they’re going to run again some day, I think that we’re going to evaluate the process – of the nomination process and I don’t think...

For most of the past year, Carly Fiorina worked as hard as she could to beat Donald Trump. First, she competed against the eventual GOP presidential nominee in the scrum of the 17-candidate Republican primary. After her campaign foundered, she returned to the fray briefly as the running mate of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the final days of his campaign. Now, as crunch time for Republicans emerges and the choice is stark, Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, says she is making a choice she wants all Americans to make. “We must have President Trump — we can’t have...

Radio host Glenn Beck had a dire message for those hoping to hear a pep talk at the Red State Gathering of Republicans in Denver on Friday. “The GOP is over,” said Beck, hours before his keynote speech that was supposed to unify conservatives at the conference. Beck spoke at the gathering, meant to organize grassroots Republicans operations just 90 days from the November election. He scolded conservatives as more and more Republicans try to distance themselves from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

A website tied to the hacking scandal of the Democratic Party has now posted a small batch of leaked emails from Republican campaigns and state GOP staffers. The emails on the site, known as DCLeaks, appear to be from state party officials and former Republican presidential candidates, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The messages range from June to October of 2015. ... Most of the messages coordinate campaign activities, solicit funds, or invite or RSVP to events. The archive is largely the procedural minutia of running campaigns or state parties. The emails include a wide array of constituent email addresses....

Ted Cruz has gone quiet after his daring convention speech, firing off fundraising pleas for his 2018 Senate campaign but otherwise keeping a low profile as analysts say he does the hard work of rebuilding his political brand. He’s stuck his neck out, both personally and online, to boost several conservatives in the Cruz mold — only to see them lose their primaries... Instead of being out and about, Mr. Cruz appears to be worried about his campaign bottom line, firing off a couple of pleas to supporters to pony up contributions ahead of his re-election race — which isn’t...

The primaries are over and Trump is the nominee, and instead of whining about it like a Millennial faced with having to get a job we need to step back and ask ourselves if we have learned anything from this bizarre turn of events. The GOP – our GOP – has nominated someone who is not a traditional conservative. He’s not even an untraditional conservative. Hell, there’s probably not even a “c” or a “v” in whatever he is. So we can either try to figure out what happened or keep rending our clothes and gnashing our teeth about how...

I talked to a friend yesterday...he told me of one dinner party at which two of the most prominent NeverTrumpers confessed why they want Hillary to win. They know they’ll have no access to the Trump White House if he wins. Nor would they have any access to a Hillary White House. The difference, however, is that their donor base would desert them in the event of a Trump victory, whereas they can raise money from donors in the event of a Hillary win. We had figured this out. We’re just surprised to hear them admit it.

Ted Cruz isn’t just colliding with Donald Trump since the Republican convention. He’s also at odds with some of his own advisers. At issue: a high-profile primary challenge to Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Cruz ally and tea party favorite who has long been a thorn in the side of the party establishment. Cruz has rushed to Huelskamp’s aid, providing him with a valuable endorsement just weeks before the Aug. 2 primary. But members of the Texas senator’s political team are working aggressively to defeat the embattled congressman. Two of the pillars of Cruz’s political operation, the consulting firms Axiom...

Ed mentioned this in passing in the last post but it deserves extra attention. How often do you see a guy’s favorable rating within his own party cut nearly in half in the span of two weeks? Cruz’s move, however, appears to have backfired. While 60% of Republican voters had a positive impression of the former presidential candidate before the convention, just 33% have one now.

“Ted had signed the Pledge. You know why? Because I made him do it. But two hours before his speech I wanted him thrown off. Reince thought not. See, we knew there’d be no endorsement. What we didn’t know is that he’d be booed out of the convention... Jeb’s too slow Alongside Karen Pence — Woody Johnson. As Reince Priebus took iPhone photos of Donald, I asked about Woody’s previous support of Jeb Bush. “After Jeb dropped out, I took a couple of weeks to reflect. Then went to see Donald. And signed on. Jeb was too slow. He’d give...

What Did Trump Really Say About Cruz' Wife and Father?

Ted Cruz speaks at an event in Cleveland to thank his delegates and volunteers for their support during his 2016 primary run. "I'll just confess I didn't have the strength to do that and not breakdown," Cruz told supporters. "And we had 50 T.V. cameras there and I tell you, I wasn't going to let those SOBs turn Lyin' Ted into Cryin' Ted." Full transcript and story at link.

Jeb Bush's three delegates at the Republican National Convention cost him and his campaign around $50 million each.  After being the 'hands down' favorite to win the Republican primary with an unlimited bank account supporting him, Bush ended up spending all the money his donors had fundraised and losing the election in miserable fashion.  Ever since, Jeb and the entire Bush family have been extremely negative and reluctant to support the Republican nominee.  In May, (politically correct) Bush criticized Trump for eating a taco salad.  “What Trump did was so insensitive,” Bush told Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.  "First, not all Hispanics are Mexican,"...

Jeb Bush's three delegates at the Republican National Convention cost him and his campaign about $50 million each. Bush, who ended his presidential campaign in February after a poor showing in South Carolina, had only three delegates vote for him at the Republicans' nominating convention Tuesday. His campaign and super PAC spent $46 million for each delegate, according to The Washington Post's Dave Weigel. He was a favorite going into the primary season and had substantial financial backing from his family network, but he was unable to muster the enthusiasm his campaign needed. Donald Trump's attacks on Bush as “low-energy”...