Trump meets with RNC chairman

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday met with Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus behind closed doors at RNC headquarters.

{mosads}The meeting lasted about an hour as dozens of reporters and onlookers gathered outside the headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Trump left out of a back door, waving to media and onlookers from his motorcade as it rolled out. Some reporters shouted questions, which Trump did not acknowledge.

Moments after being seen leaving RNC headquarters, Trump tweeted that he had a “nice meeting” with Priebus.

“Looking forward to bringing the Party together — and it will happen!” he added.

Just had a very nice meeting with @Reince Priebus and the @GOP. Looking forward to bringing the Party
together — and it will happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2016

“The Chairman and Mr. Trump had a productive conversation about the state of the race,” RNC spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement shared with The Hill.

“The Chairman is in constant communication with all of the candidates and their campaigns about the primaries, general election, and the convention. Meeting and phone conversations with candidates and their campaigns are common and will increase as we get closer to November.”

Appering on Fox News Thursday, Priebus didn’t shed much light on the conversation. He said it had been in the works for a few days and said he couldn’t reveal what the two talked about.

The RNC meeting comes days after Trump backed out of a pledge to support the Republican nominee no matter who it is. 

GOP rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich also backed away from the pledge, foreshadowing a fight at the convention over the summer.

Priebus called for party unity and tried to quash recent talk among the candidates about not being able to support one another. 

“It doesn’t work that way,” he said, adding that candidates aren’t “going to get the data and tools of RNC … run to be our nominee and tell me they’re not going to support the party.”

An unnamed source told Bloomberg News that the pledge did not come up in the meeting.

Trump has long said the pledge was contingent on the GOP treating him fairly, and he claimed during a CNN town hall Tuesday night that he’s “been treated very unfairly” by “the RNC, the Republican Party, the establishment.”

Trump came to Washington on Thursday to step up efforts to persuade establishment Republicans to rally around his candidacy. 

He announced an outreach initiative targeting House Republicans led by two of his first congressional endorsers, Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.).

Reports emerged this week that Trump’s campaign would also open an office in D.C., as it looks to rally lawmakers from Capitol Hill behind his outsider White House bid. 

– Updated at 7:22 p.m.