RACE TO WHITE HOUSE
'I think it's over now'
Trump hits out at Clinton, Cruz ahead of Indiana primary, accuses China of trade 'rape'
Front-runner Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will have essentially sealed the Republican US presidential nomination if he wins today's contest in Indiana, where he holds a big lead over chief rival Ted Cruz.
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist opinion poll showed Trump with a wide lead in Indiana, 49 percent to 34 percent for Cruz and 13 percent for a third candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Trump, a 69-year-old billionaire real estate developer, sounded confident in an interview on "Fox News Sunday" when asked whether Indiana would basically end the long-running Republican race in his favor.
"Yes, it's over," Trump said. "It's already over."
The poll showed the depth of the challenge facing Cruz, a conservative US senator from Texas who is trying to prevent Trump from winning the 1,237 delegates needed to seal the nomination.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," Cruz, 45, was asked several times whether he would support Trump if the New York businessman was the Republican nominee. Cruz evaded the question each time and turned the questions into an attack on broadcast media.
Meanwhile, Trump has accused China of "raping" the US, in renewed criticism of China's trade policy. He told a rally in Indiana that China was responsible for "the greatest theft in the history of the world".
Trump has long accused China of manipulating its currency to make its exports more competitive globally. This, he says, has badly damaged US businesses and workers. "We can't continue to allow China to rape our country, and that's what we're doing," he told the campaign rally on Sunday.
"We're going to turn it around, and we have the cards, don't forget it," he added. "We have a lot of power with China."
Trump, in his campaign manifesto, pledges to "cut a better deal with China that helps American businesses and workers compete".
He sets out four goals that include immediately declaring China "a currency manipulator" and putting "an end to China's illegal export subsidies and lax labour and environmental standards".