--- title: Donald Trump: Two-Thirds of Fans Would Back Independent Run description: GOP frontrunner has floated the idea of running as an independent before canonical: https://time.com/4141293/donald-trump-independent-run-president/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-08T21:41:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:51.188Z article:section: Politics og:title: Two-Thirds of Trump Fans Would Back Independent Run og:description: GOP frontrunner has floated the idea of running as an independent before og:url: https://time.com/4141293/donald-trump-independent-run-president/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte70f536d9e133a73/69887470196cf420ec0395d8/donald-trump18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Town Hall In Iowa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Two-Thirds of Trump Fans Would Back Independent Run twitter:description: GOP frontrunner has floated the idea of running as an independent before twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte70f536d9e133a73/69887470196cf420ec0395d8/donald-trump18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Two-Thirds of Trump Fans Would Back Independent Run > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=63425c57-feae-4b48-9f9b-0bbad4b5ecca&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Dec 8, 2015 9:41 PM UTC  Donald Trump speaks to guests following a town hall meeting on Nov. 19, 2015 in Newton, IO. Donald Trump speaks to guests following a town hall meeting on Nov. 19, 2015 in Newton, IO. Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Dec 8, 2015 9:41 PM UTC Donald Trump continues to lead the GOP presidential field in national polls, but new figures indicate he could [attract a lot of support even as an independent candidate](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/12/08/poll-trump-cruz-rubio-clinton-sanders/76948760/). According to a _USA Today_/Suffolk University poll taken last week, 68% of Trump’s supporters said they would back him if he ran on an independent ticket instead of as the Republican nominee. As a GOP candidate, Trump also continues to lead his rivals in the poll, garnering 27% of likely voters’ support, with Ted Cruz placing second with a 17% share. Trump has threatened to launch an independent campaign before. In a summer appearance on Morning Joe, when the businessman’s campaign was first gaining steam, he said, “I do not want to do independent at all. If I’m treated well and with great respect and don’t win, I would not do that. But if I’m treated poorly, I would do that.” He reiterated similar points on Tuesday, though he has [signed a loyalty pledge to the party](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34144850). The poll was conducted before Trump launched his latest controversy by calling for a “[complete shutdown](http://time.com/4139476/donald-trump-shutdown-muslim-immigration/)” of Muslims entering the country. The idea has been met with wide condemnation from both Democratic and Republican politicians. \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/12/08/poll-trump-cruz-rubio-clinton-sanders/76948760/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4141293/donald-trump-independent-run-president/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4141293/donald-trump-independent-run-president/"},"headline":"Two-Thirds of Trump Fans Would Back Independent Run","datePublished":"2015-12-08T21:41:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:51.188Z","description":"GOP frontrunner has floated the idea of running as an independent before","url":"https://time.com/4141293/donald-trump-independent-run-president/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Donald Trump","2016 presidential race"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte70f536d9e133a73/69887470196cf420ec0395d8/donald-trump18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte70f536d9e133a73/69887470196cf420ec0395d8/donald-trump18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Town Hall In Iowa","caption":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Town Hall In Iowa","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4141293/donald-trump-independent-run-president/","name":"Two-Thirds of Trump Fans Would Back Independent Run"}}]}] ```