Trump, who is mostly self-funding his campaign, said he had originally budgeted up to $20 million through mid-September for television advertising. But so far, he has not spent anything to go on the airwaves since he is so often on them: “It’s been all Trump, all the time. . . . If you had an ad, people would O.D.”

But he and his aides said that would soon change. His campaign says it has hired a Florida-based advertising firm and Trump said he has proposed several concepts for ads in the works…

Trump has between seven and 12 paid staffers in each of the first three states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and he is hiring in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and other states. Lewandowski said Trump enjoys a “massive grass-roots network,” allowing volunteers to feed local intelligence on rival campaigns to New York.

Asked if he had discussed an exit plan with Trump should the candidate slip in the polls, Lewandowski said he had not: “We’re going to the convention — that’s it. One delegate or 2,000 and change, we’re going to the convention, and there’s nobody who can get him out of the race.”