Donald Trump’s convention manager, Paul Manafort, huddled with House Republicans on Tuesday to provide an update on the campaign’s strategy on the day of the New York primary.
Manafort first met with House Republicans who have already endorsed Trump for president, including Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), Renee Ellmers (N.C.) and Kevin Cramer (N.D.).
A handful of lawmakers on the fence about supporting Trump then met with Manafort in a subsequent meeting at the Capitol Hill Club, which is on the same block as Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters.
{mosads}Manafort gave a status report in which he laid out his campaign’s hope of winning more than the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination before July’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
“The objective and goal is to not make this an issue at the convention,” said Hunter’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper.
Trump’s delegate manager, Ed Brookover, floated the idea that Trump could win as many as 1,265 delegates last week during a meeting with lawmakers.
The meeting between Manafort and the House Republicans occurred at the same time that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus delivered a presentation about the party’s nominating process to most of the GOP conference.
Priebus said the contest will go to a second ballot if no candidate wins 1,237 delegates.
Duncan and Rep. Chris Collins (N.Y.) were the first GOP lawmakers to publicly back Trump after the candidate went months without a congressional endorsement. Both lawmakers chair Trump’s congressional outreach initiative that was formally established just last month.
Eight House members and one senator, Jeff Sessions (Ala.), are on record supporting Trump.
The Trump campaign plans to meet with lawmakers weekly whenever the House is in session.