Donald Trump Just Signed His Political Death Warrant

Signing the Republican loyalty pledge shatters the independent image that is the key to his appeal—and that's not all.

Donald Trump, president and chief executive of Trump Organization Inc. and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, leaves after speaking during a rally at Grand River Center in Dubuque, Iowa, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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By Joshua Green

September 3, 2015 at 3:24 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The GOP has finally muscled its maverick front-runner, Donald Trump, into submission. A Trump adviser said on Thursday the billionaire has agreed to sign the Republican “loyalty pledge” he famously refused at the first debate in Cleveland last month, apparently ruling out a scenario that utterly terrified the GOP establishment: that Trump would launch a third-party bid and almost certainly deny Republicans the White House. With the stroke of a pen, Trump will put these fears to rest—and immeasurably weaken his own standing. He’s probably signing his political death warrant.

The adviser gave four reasons for why Trump decided to sign the pledge: