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Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush is carrying his crusade against Donald Trump to the doorstep of the Republican convention, saying that he is not the future of the Republican Party even as it prepares to nominate him. Bush, once seen as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, remains one of the most prominent anti-Trump holdouts in the GOP. In an op-ed for The Washington Post published Friday, Bush acknowledged that Trump had capitalized on legitimate frustrations with American politics. "They have given rise to the success of a candidate who continues to grotesquely manipulate the deeply felt anger of many Americans," Bush wrote, saying the nominee harkened back to an 1850s political party. "Trump's abrasive, Know Nothing-like nativist rhetoric has blocked out sober discourse about how to tackle America's big challenges." Bush's op-ed continues his vehement opposition to Trump. During the primaries, he and Trump regularly traded shots on the campaign trail, with the real estate mogul memorably labeling him "low-energy." After Bush dropped out following the South Carolina primary, he vowed that he would not vote for Trump and does not plan to attend the Republican National Convention. In his op-ed, the former Florida governor implored Republicans to protect their control of Congress, and called on the party to "reintroduce civility, ideas and optimism back into politics. Let's find ways to campaign and govern inclusively. Let's find ways to ease the angst and fear of people, without cynically feeding it." Bush, a lifelong Republican from a family that produced two Republican presidents, also floated the idea of supporting the Libertarian ticket in the fall. "I haven't decided how I'll vote in November -- whether I'll support the Libertarian ticket or write in a candidate -- but I do know there are a lot of things Republicans can do in the coming months to lay the groundwork for rebuilding our party and the foundation for a true conservative renewal in our country." Bush isn't the first anti-Trump Republican to suggest that he might vote Libertarian this fall. Last month, 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney also said he would consider voting for the Libertarian ticket, though he noted he had policy differences with them. The Republican National Convention begins Monday in Cleveland.

(CNN)Newt Gingrich is "actively lobbying" to be Donald Trump's running mate, a source familiar with the process told CNN Saturday. The source added that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is very high on Trump's VP list and is getting the "full vet." But Pence isn't actively lobbying for the job because it's not his style, the source added. And retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is also being considered as a Trump running mate, but the source said it is "not clear how intensely," an indication the general is on the list but may not get the final nod. Sources have also said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, an active surrogate for Trump, is not yet out of the running. He will campaign with Trump in Virginia on Monday, campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said. Earlier in the week, Gingrich told Fox News that if asked, he would serve as Trump's vice president. "If Trump offers the position and is serious about it, which I think he would be after our conversations, listen, I would feel compelled to serve the country," Gingrich told Greta Van Susteren. The statement was a pivot for Gingrich: days earlier at the Aspen Ideas Festival, he called talk that he would be selected "wild speculation," saying that even if he were to be chosen, he would have to have a "very, very long talk" with his wife, Callista, and then "another long talk" with Trump.

(CNN) – Donald Trump has another woman problem — three of them. The presumptive Republican nominee spent the past 24 hours blasting his likely opponent, Hillary Clinton, and his most provocative antagonist, Sen. Elizabeth Warren. But he didn’t stop there. He also slammed New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the nation’s only Latina governor and a Republican. Martinez might be seen as an obvious choice for diplomacy, or even intensive courtship, given Trump’s standing among women and Hispanics. Trump chose a different approach: He told the residents of New Mexico to get rid of her. In all three cases, the clashes were classic Trump. Slight him, diss him, hit him — and he’ll hit back harder. Much harder. But they also could play right into Democrats’ plans to brand Trump as a serial misogynist as he goes up against a rival who could become the first female president in history. His poor standing with women — a CNN/ORC poll in March found he was viewed unfavorably by 73% of registered female voters — is one of his biggest liabilities heading into the fall. “He makes a habit of insulting women,” Clinton said Wednesday afternoon as a campaign stop in California. “He seems to have something about women.” The battles have been brewing for weeks but exploded this week as Trump went west to hold a series of rallies and fundraisers. His latest scrapes are also likely to spur further conversation about whether he has a political weak spot in dealing with outspoken and powerful women — given that his debate clash with businesswoman and former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was one of the shakiest moments of an otherwise wildly successful primary campaign. Here are the highlights of Trump’s latest fights: His response to Martinez’s absence was swift, fierce and characteristic. Since becoming the GOP’s presumptive nominee, Trump has not developed the technique of turning the other cheek that could benefit his wider political interests. “We have to get your governor to get going,” Trump told a raucous crowd. “She has got to do a better job. She is not doing the job. Hey, maybe I will run for governor of New Mexico. I’ll get this place going.” Trump’s attack on Martinez is counter-intuitive, given that she is a rising GOP star, who is perennially mentioned in vice presidential scuttlebutt. As a woman and a Latina, Martinez is the kind of candidate Republicans badly need in their corner if they are to reverse their losing streak in presidential elections. And as a Republican in New Mexico, a state that has trended Democratic in recent presidential contests, she has much to teach her party about winning southwestern states the GOP needs to recapture if it is to make a tough electoral map more favorable. Yet Trump’s attack did not seem off-the-cuff — he appeared to be reading from several sheafs of paper as he jabbed Martinez. Senior Trump advisor Tana Goertz rejected the idea that Trump’s attitude said anything about his feelings towards women and Latino voters but was just a case of him being honest after he was personally snubbed. “She hasn’t been very kind to Mr. Trump and you know that he will not back down to anyone whether it is a male or a female. If you go after him then he will pull out your resume and say, you are not doing that good of a job,” Goertz told CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield. Martinez did not take long to respond, hitting back at Trump through a spokesman on Wednesday, rejecting his claims she wanted to import Syrian refugees into New Mexico and claiming he had so far shown little sign of helping her state. “The pot shots weren’t about policy, they were about politics. And the governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans,” said spokesman Mike Lonergan. Trump is receiving especially intense fire from Warren, the liberal, anti-Wall Street Massachusetts senator who, with her dry wit and grassroots Democratic following is emerging as one of his most effective critics and a capable defender of Clinton. Warren is giving Trump a taste of his own medicine, blasting him for comments he made as a businessman noting the money that could be made in a housing crash. In a speech on Tuesday, she mocked him as “a small, insecure, money grubber, who doesn’t care who gets hurt so long as he makes a profit off it.” “What kind of man does that? A man who will never be president of the United States,” Warren said. That might be harsh but it doesn’t approach the fusillades Warren has been firing off on Twitter, directly at Trump, on his favorite social media platform. “Anytime someone calls out @realDonaldTrump, he replies with right-wing conspiracies & lies. It’s not presidential – & getting very old,” she tweeted. On May 11, Warren was even more caustic. “Your policies are dangerous. Your words are reckless. Your record is embarrassing. And your free ride is over,” Warren tweeted. On the same day, Warren openly challenged Trump over his attitude to women. “We get it, @realDonaldTrump: When a woman stands up to you, you’re going to call her a basket case. Hormonal. Ugly.” Trump is not taking such criticism on the chin. He coined a nickname for Warren, calling her “goofy.” And he latched onto her claim, much ridiculed among Republicans, to have native American ancestry, and is now calling her “Pocahontas,” even though such terminology carries racial overtones. “I call her goofy. She gets less done than anybody in the United States Senate,” Trump said in Anaheim, California, on Wednesday. “She gets nothing done, nothing passed. She’s got a big mouth and that’s about it. But they use her because Hillary’s trying to be very presidential.” Warren’s performance has not gone unnoticed by Democrats, even prompting buzz that she could join Clinton on a historic all-women presidential ticket that would put Democratic attacks on Trump’s attitude to women at the center of the fall campaign. At the very least though, Warren, who has deep credibility with grassroots Democrats, many of whom have flocked to Bernie Sanders, could be vital in bringing the party together ahead of its convention in July. While Martinez and Warren are grabbing headlines, the ultimate political clash that will decide the destiny of the White House is between Clinton and Trump. Gender is already a fault line in the general election campaign, which will partly hinge on whether Trump’s unpopularity with women voters will be more decisive than Clinton’s poor ratings with male voters. Clinton downplayed her status as potentially the first woman president in her 2008 campaign. But she has highlighted her historic status more this time around. “I don’t know whether it makes him feel good to insult people,” Clinton said Wednesday. “I don’t understand the motivation.” Trump has responded to what he sees as the playing of the “woman card” by the Clinton campaign by unleashing the full fury of his tongue. “I will never say this — but she screams it drives me crazy. I didn’t say it. It drives me crazy,” he said in New Mexico on Tuesday. To counter claims by Democrats that he is anti-women, Trump has branded the former first lady an “enabler” of Bill Clinton’s alleged extra-marital affairs, and dredged up the 1990s scandals that led to the former president’s impeachment. The tone between Clinton and Trump might be ugly already — but it is likely to get worse before the two rivals meet for their ultimate showdown — three presidential debates in the fall.

Donald Trump on Thursday secured the number of GOP delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, NBC News has confirmed. Trump passed the 1,237 mark after unbound delegates from North Dakota pledged their support for him. NBC News declared Trump to be the presumptive Republican nominee after his GOP rivals dropped out of the race in early May. There are still 303 delegates at stake in five state primaries on June 7. Trump will not officially become the nominee until he accepts the nomination at the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. http://www.necn.com/news/national-international/Donald-Trump-Delegates-Republican-Nomination-President-380966811.html

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/opinions/who-in-world-supports-trump/index.html