Still, Trump could hit a nerve as a self-funded independent. And as an independent, he would not be subject to the “three tickets out of Iowa”-style analysis that can put pressure on candidates who don’t succeed early. So why tie himself to the GOP? “I believe I’m the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton,” Trump explained. “Having a two-party race gives us a much better chance of beating Hillary and bringing our country back than having a third-party candidate.”

At that point, I asked Trump about Ross Perot’s third-party run in 1992, in which Perot won 19 percent of the popular vote. Did Trump believe Perot was a spoiler in that election?

“Totally,” Trump said. “I think every single vote that went to Ross Perot came from [George H.W.] Bush…Virtually every one of his 19 percentage points came from the Republicans. If Ross Perot didn’t run, you have never heard of Bill Clinton.”

In the course of a brief talk, Trump made a strong case for staying in the Republican party. But he left the door ever so slightly cracked at the end, when I asked if he would definitively rule out a third-party run. “It’s something I’m not thinking about right now,” Trump said, “because I’m doing well within the Republican ranks, and that gives us the best chance of defeating Hillary Clinton.”