--- title: Donald Trump: What the Republican Said as John Kasich Quit description: Trump was on the phone with TIME when he learned his last Republican rival would suspend his campaign canonical: https://time.com/4318138/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-04T17:48:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:12.114Z article:section: Politics og:title: Exclusive: What Trump Said the Moment Kasich Dropped Out og:description: He was on the phone with TIME og:url: https://time.com/4318138/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88cb9c342fe77e33/698891f6f887dc7f31e95bcf/trump21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3897 og:image:height: 2192 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Exclusive: What Trump Said the Moment Kasich Dropped Out twitter:description: He was on the phone with TIME twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88cb9c342fe77e33/698891f6f887dc7f31e95bcf/trump21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Exclusive: What Donald Trump Said the Moment He Learned John Kasich Dropped Out > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7638cb13-a4ff-4482-8952-a0fc5da2ee38&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 4, 2016 5:48 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump smiles as he speaks during a primary night news conference on May 3, 2016, in New York. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump smiles as he speaks during a primary night news conference on May 3, 2016, in New York.Mary Altaffer—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 4, 2016 5:48 PM UTC Within 24 hours, both [Texas Senator Ted Cruz](http://time.com/4317299/ted-cruz-drops-out-ends-campaign-indiana-primary-analysis/?xid=homepage) and Ohio Governor John Kasich will have dropped out of the race, leaving Donald Trump the undisputed presumptive nominee for the Republican Party. TIME’s Zeke Miller was on the phone conducting an interview with Trump on Wednesday during the exact moment he found out that Kasich, his last remaining rival, would [suspend his campaign](http://time.com/4317997/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich-ted-cruz-indiana/?xid=homepage) this afternoon. “That’s good. That’s nice. That’s interesting. It’s very interesting,” Trump said when he took a separate phone call and learned of Kasich’s decision. “So Kasich is dropping out,” he then mused to TIME. “Hmm … That’s big. I didn’t think that was going to happen.” Now finding himself the nominee, Trump immediately pivoted to the general election. “So now I’m going to be focused on Hillary and you’ll be dealing with me and we’ll see what happens,” he said, predicting most of the Republican Party would unify behind him. “And I think we have a very strong case against Hillary. As far as the Republican Party coming together, it will, maybe not 100%, but it’ll come together 99% and the 1% I don’t want and it won’t have any impact.” Trump made clear that he would echo Bernie Sanders’ criticism of Hillary Clinton in the coming race. “Bernie actually said she’s unqualified because she’s got bad judgment and it’s true,” Trump said. “She’s unqualified because of the fact that her judgment is so bad.” He also made clear that case would rest heavily on trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was signed by her husband in the 1990s. “The NAFTA is the worst trade deal in the history of any country anywhere in the world at any time,” he said. “And it was a Clinton trade deal. NAFTA was Clinton. And it has drained our country of manufacturing jobs and it’s been a disaster. I’m going to talk about that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4318138/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4318138/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich/"},"headline":"Exclusive: What Donald Trump Said the Moment He Learned John Kasich Dropped Out","datePublished":"2016-05-04T17:48:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:12.114Z","description":"Trump was on the phone with TIME when he learned his last Republican rival would suspend his campaign","url":"https://time.com/4318138/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","john kasich"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88cb9c342fe77e33/698891f6f887dc7f31e95bcf/trump21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88cb9c342fe77e33/698891f6f887dc7f31e95bcf/trump21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"Donald Trump","creditText":"Mary Altaffer—AP","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/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4318138/republican-party-donald-trump-john-kasich/","name":"Exclusive: What Donald Trump Said the Moment He Learned John Kasich Dropped Out"}}]}] ```