Trump: Selling building from real estate empire to fund campaign an 'option'

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Donald Trump suggested Sunday that he might have to “sell a building” from his real estate empire to finance a general election run, amid reports that wealthy GOP donors won’t support his bid and Trump’s repeated vows that the donor class won’t “control” him.

“These are people who won’t have access to the White House,” Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends Weekend.” “They want to have control over me. … I don’t want people telling me what to do.”

Trump’s comments were in response to a New York Times story published Sunday that stated several GOP mega-donors won’t support a Trump candidacy.

(It follows a report by the newspaper several weeks ago that billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is willing to give Trump as much as $100 million for his presidential campaign -- a purported record-setting amount for the wealthy casino magnate.)

Trump said Sunday that he financed his primary campaign with millions of his own money and small-dollar donations. He also said he has borrowed against his own assets and that he is working with Washington Republicans to raise money, but acknowledged the tremendous cost of a general election race.

"To finance a billion dollars I would have to sell a building," he said. "Will I do that? I could. I have the option of doing it."

In the phone interview, Trump also said he is heartened by recent polls showing him and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton running neck-and-neck in a possible November matchup.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Sunday showed voters favored Trump over Clinton 46-to-44 percent.

Trump also appeared to criticize Clinton’s remarks Saturday night at the Trayvon Martin Foundation event, in which she suggested Trump, endorsed by the influential National Rifle Association, wants gun in classrooms.

“I don’t want guns in classrooms, although in some cases teachers should have guns in classrooms,” Trump said.

Trump also suggested that he might get some Democratic cross-over votes from those who support Clinton challenger Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“A lot of Bernie Sanders voters, they don’t like Hillary Clinton. … They think she’s crooked Hillary,” he said. “Just look at her record.”