Donald Trump Expected To Endorse Mitt Romney

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businessman and reality TV personality Donald Trump is endorsing Mitt Romney in the race for the 2012 Republican nomination, CNN reported on Thursday, a day after U.S. media reported the real estate mogul would be endorsing Romney's rival Newt Gingrich.

Trump, himself an on-again/off-again candidate for president and former Republican, will announce his support for Romney on Thursday in Las Vegas, the cable television network reported, citing sources with knowledge of the endorsement.

The CNN report was a direct contradiction to reports on Wednesday, citing sources close to Gingrich's campaign, that Trump would endorse the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Michael Cohen, Trump's political adviser, said he was not at liberty to reveal what Trump would say at his news conference. "It's only a guessing game because the press are making it a guessing game," he said.

Nevada's caucuses, the next contest in the state-by-state process of picking a Republican nominee to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 general election, take place on Saturday.

Romney has won two of the first four nominating contests, taking primaries in New Hampshire and Florida by healthy margins. Gingrich won South Carolina's primary, and former Senator Rick Santorum won Iowa's caucuses.

Trump last year flirted with a presidential run as a Republican. He was derided for pushing a discredited charge that Obama might not have been born in the United States.

He left the Republican Party in December after a presidential debate he had planned to host fell through and has recently hinted that he would mount a third-party White House run if his choice among the Republicans does not win the nomination.

(Reporting By Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Edith Honan in New York, editing by Jackie Frank)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Andrew Nason]

07:04 AM on 02/03/2012

Trump must need another positive bankruptcy settlement!

[WeezyBaby]

04:03 PM on 02/02/2012

2 jokes, one stage.

[blessed nation]

03:22 PM on 02/02/2012

My question is when are the partys going to run someone who does care about this country the people in it and not just the rich getting richer. By sending our work over sea's. Bring it home and get real,Or we trying to be a third world country. with one world money and one world goverment.Setting up for the AntiChrist

[Jim Bob Paytreutt]

03:29 PM on 02/02/2012

Praise Free Market Jeebus! Obama iz tha Six Six Six and Jeebus iz a-gonna send them Libs straight ta H-E-Double Hockey Sticks becuase He loves them so much!

[rcwells]

03:21 PM on 02/02/2012

Gingrich just needs to nab Meatloaf's endorsement and they'll be even.

[sandyhh]

03:11 PM on 02/02/2012

Doesn't appear The Donald likes either one of them much...like everyone else. I guess he thought he better support the Top 1% because that's who he is between bankruptcies? And Newt's Moon project didn't include a Trump gold course and resorts?

[FLZetaGalVoter]

03:11 PM on 02/02/2012

No one cares who endorses who; however, if the message comes from a status quo DC politician, Wall Street thief, or taxpayer bailed out bank, it tells us who definitely NOT to vote for: another corporate greeder, Romney. The only unit that doesnt get it is the pious biased media who still think they can still do their media lobbying to influence public opinion. Media moderators are NOT expertise on anything but spin and deliberate fact distortion by merely omitting facts in oder to falsify the interpretation. Omission of ANY part of the whole story is still a Lie.

[somefool]

03:11 PM on 02/02/2012

Can Simon's endorsement be far behind?

[FLZetaGalVoter]

02:59 PM on 02/02/2012

No one cares who endorses who, however, if a corporate greeder like the status quo DC politicians, wall street thiefs, and taxpayer bailed out banks align with someone, it tells me who definitely NOT to vote for. And thats Romney.

[nanjemoy]

02:55 PM on 02/02/2012

Donald Trump, in a bold, principled, and visionary move, stated, "I stand solidly behind whatever guys winning."

Later, he also stated, "I also support gravity."

[DanielaFearless]

02:53 PM on 02/02/2012

Whoopdie do! Someone give him 50 cents so he can call someone who cares.... oh wait, he doesn't need your 50 cents, I forgot it's a richie endorsing another richie who couldn't give a care about the poor.

[oz3472]

02:57 PM on 02/02/2012

actually in this case it a phony richie (Trump - who needs to do a TV show to make money these days) endorsing a richie phony!

[DanielaFearless]

03:07 PM on 02/02/2012

True!

[ambrecel]

02:53 PM on 02/02/2012

Political season is finally beginning, there is a front runner finally.

[CertifiedApproved]

02:51 PM on 02/02/2012

Who the hell cares?

www.cafepress.com/certifiedapprovedtees

[Jim Bob Paytreutt]

03:24 PM on 02/02/2012

That's that thar Spiced HammitySpam!

[plotknsls]

02:51 PM on 02/02/2012

What did you expect. Trump doesn't care about the poor either.

[thefeargame]

02:50 PM on 02/02/2012

Nothing more or less than a political joke (like Palin)...Trump's ratings must be down.

[BurtonDesque]

02:48 PM on 02/02/2012

Trump does whatever the alien perched on his head tells him to do.