PALM BEACH, Fla. — Instead of sticking to his usual belligerent and boastful tone, Republican front-runner Donald Trump switched to a more tempered voice during a press conference here, offering a “let’s unite the party” speech as the returns rolled in, mostly in his favor.
“Look, I’m a unifier. I know people are going to find that a little hard to believe, but believe me, I am a unifier,” Trump told a ballroom full of reporters at Mar-A-Largo, his historic Florida estate. “Once we get all of this finished, I am going to go after one person and that’s Hillary Clinton, on the assumption she’s allowed to run. And that’s a big assumption.”
Trump, a 69-year-old New York real estate entrepreneur, has said he uses “if” he becomes president instead of saying “when” he’s president so that people don’t think he has a big ego. But on Tuesday night, after cleaning up in the first day of multi-state voting in the 2016 race, he shifted into general election mode, even offering a few gentle words to the press, with whom he’s had a love-hate relationship.
“Great to be here at Mar-A-Lago with friends and the press and the media and everybody,” he said.
Trump seemed to be striving for a calm, presidential demeanor, saying he'd work with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump’s first criticism in his half-hour speech was of Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, but he couldn’t resist ridiculing “little” Rubio, the Florida U.S. senator whose home state he chose as the place to take a wide stance in front of the TV cameras on Super Tuesday.
The media has declared Rubio “the big loser of the night," he said. “Which is true. He hasn’t won anything. And by the way, I have to tell you, he was very very nasty. I’ve never heard a person get up and speak on anything like this and be so nasty. ... I always liked Marco until about a week ago when he decided to go hostile.”
After Trump spoke, Minnesota gave Rubio his lone win of the day. Rubio, who had generally shied away from criticizing his chief rival since the last GOP primary debate, has turned on the snark and returned Trump's personal attacks with some schoolyard humor of his own. It apparently has gotten under Trump's skin.
Trump said he did want to congratulate presidential rival Ted Cruz, saying the Texas U.S. senator worked hard to win his home state of Texas and earned that victory. “At least you can say Ted has won something,” Trump said.
On Tuesday, the most consequential day of the race so far, Trump was declared the winner in several states, including Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Virginia. Earlier in the year, he bagged victories in New Hampshire in the Northeast, Nevada in the West and South Carolina in the South. He finished second to Cruz in Iowa, the Midwestern state that kicked off the 2016 voting on Feb. 1, and second in Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska Tuesday.
Trump spent the day campaigning in two states that didn’t cast votes Tuesday — telegraphing that he’s looking forward to wins in Ohio, where he hopes to deny Ohio Gov. John Kasich his rationale for any hope in the presidential race, and in Kentucky.
"Good night for Trump. Bad night for everyone else. Really not complicated," GOP strategist Stuart Stevens said in an interview. "Rubio has to win Florida. Kasich has to win Ohio. Goal now for those of us who believe Trump is a disaster is to hold him under a first ballot win. Short of some meltdown, there is really no other realistic alternative."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, an establishment Republican who led the National Governors Association, introduced Trump on Tuesday night, saying: “Tonight is the beginning of Donald Trump bringing the Republican party together.”
Trump talked about jobs, health care, the military and trade, and promised to make America great again, echoing his campaign slogan. “I’m a businessman. I know how to do this,” Trump said.
Then he offered a humble thank you, saying: “This has been an amazing period in my life.”
But the classic Trump returned as he noted he has millions of supporters. “This isn’t like it’s a close match. I mean, it’s only too bad that winner didn’t take all because if winner took all, this thing’s over, we’re just having the celebration.”
