Party Planning

Battle of Trump Begins in Florida at RNC Pre-Convention Meeting

The final gathering of Republican National Committee before the party's convention in Cleveland is certain to be dominated by discussion about the presidential front-runner.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump returns to his midtown office after voting on April 19, 2016, in New York City.

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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As Republican National Committee members convened Wednesday in southern Florida for a three-day confab, they sat just an hour drive from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion. An invitation there is highly unlikely, although the billionaire is sending two of his top strategists and a top surrogate to try to make nice.

Trump and the RNC's top brass have never been on particularly friendly terms. But in the weeks leading up to his blowout win in New York's primary, the relationship turned much worse with the Republican presidential front-runner feuding with the party's leadership over what he's called a “rigged” national convention. He's also promised a “rough July,” if changes aren't made before the summer gathering in Cleveland.