Donald Trump has been pretty consistent about the possibility he will run for president as an independent. He wants to run as a Republican, Trump says, but if he is not “treated fairly” in the primaries, he might bolt the GOP for a third-party run. (Trump, of course, will decide what constitutes being “treated fairly.”)

But not too long ago, in a July 7 phone conversation, Trump not only said he preferred to run as a Republican but discussed at some length the damage a third-party run would do to the chances a Republican, or anyone else, would have of defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.