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Can Donald Trump become more 'presidential' and still win?

Donald Trump has acknowledged that he might need to tone down his style a bit going forward. But he doesn't appear to want to.

Donald Trump is brash and boastful, profane and confrontational. He is unlike any of the 44 men who have already held the job that he wants, president of the United States. Mr. Trump鈥檚 supporters love that in him and say, for the most part, they don鈥檛 want him to change.

And therein lies a conundrum for the Republican front-runner. His current style is working for him, setting him on a path to the nomination. But the general election is a different story. Fully 63 percent of American voters view him negatively, according to Gallup.

Forces friendly to Trump want him to change his ways. Trump鈥檚 wife and daughter Ivanka have encouraged him to be more 鈥減residential,鈥� he said at a rally last week. It may be no coincidence that the two women closest to him are advising him this way. Women, in particular, .听

Fox News host Bill O鈥橰eilly, who has a friendly relationship with Trump, has also taken to coaxing him toward a less abrasive style. But Trump is resisting.

鈥淒o you have to become more statesmanlike?鈥� last Wednesday, the day after Trump won four out of five primaries.听

鈥淲ell, I dunno, Bill,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淚 mean, we鈥檙e doing pretty well the way it is.鈥�

As Trump considers his next moves, he faces another consideration: If he dials back the rhetoric and starts sounding more like a conventional candidate, some of his supporters may lose interest 鈥� particularly the first-time voters he needs to make up for the Republicans who say they鈥檒l never vote for him.

鈥淚f he moves to being more presidential to attract more people, does he demobilize those voters who are being drawn to his candidacy but don鈥檛 have a history of voting?鈥� asks Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

What is 'presidential'?

Defining 鈥減residential,鈥� in the conventional sense, isn鈥檛 hard. Presidents are expected to be dignified and polite, at least in public, and communicate carefully and consistently. Especially in the modern, globalized era, with 24/7 news coverage, the actions and words of American presidents travel fast and often with consequence. Presidential words can spark wars and move markets. Loose language as a businessman or a reality TV star is one thing; loose language as president is another.

Trump鈥檚 rhetoric and bearing also matter to the future of political discourse in America. If he succeeds, and reaches the White House, he could permanently alter the way the American presidency is viewed, both inside and outside the US.

Trump himself clearly knows the importance of language 鈥� and when to be careful. He usually doesn鈥檛 use a TelePrompTer, even when giving a big speech. But when Pope Francis appeared to criticize him last month over illegal immigration, Trump didn鈥檛 respond off the cuff, instead reading a statement aloud from a piece of paper. 聽

Still, Trump has been the most unconventional of presidential candidates 鈥� a first-time office-seeker who seems to operate more on instinct than the counsel of advisers (of which there are few). And in breaking the 鈥渞ules鈥� over and over 鈥� providing scant policy details, belittling his rivals, seeming to encourage violence at his rallies, smearing ethnic and religious groups with a broad brush, making a crude bodily reference at a debate, appearing to welcome the support of white supremacists 鈥� he has shocked the political world to its core. And so far, he has come out on top.

Experts assume that as the Republican nominee, Trump would tone down the rhetoric 鈥� and tone it down even more if he wins the presidency. Still, a Trump presidency would be like no other.

Looking back to the beginning of the Republic, presidential experts see no one like Trump. Plenty of presidents have behaved in an undignified way, but in private. Public examples are few, and therefore memorable, such as the time President Lyndon Johnson lifted his shirt to show a surgery scar.听

When Andrew Jackson, the seventh president and the first from a non-elite background, threw open the White House for an Inauguration Day party, as was the custom, the crowds trashed the place. Guests stood on the furniture in muddy boots, and were seen .

鈥淎ndrew Jackson had a very individualistic personal style, but he saw himself as certainly first among equals,鈥� says Cal Jillson, a presidential scholar at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. 鈥淭rump is different. He does not see himself as first among equals, he sees himself as a savior of sorts, as a singular individual.鈥�

The essential Trump

The question, then, is what elements of Trump鈥檚 rhetorical repertoire are 鈥渆ssential鈥� 鈥� that is, required for him to maintain and perhaps build his support 鈥� and what can he ditch. Does he need to come out more forcefully against supporters who behave violently at his rallies? Does he need to stop trashing Fox News host Megyn Kelly ?聽Does he need to drop the references to 鈥渓yin鈥� Ted鈥� whenever he discusses his top rival for the GOP nomination, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz?聽

Speaking with O鈥橰eilly on Fox News last Wednesday, Trump suggested that he would begin to behave in a more statesmanlike manner.

鈥淪o we鈥檙e not going to hear 鈥榣yin鈥� Ted鈥� anymore?鈥� O鈥橰eilly replied.

鈥淲ell, I can鈥檛 say that,鈥� Trump responded, suggesting he wanted to finish off Senator Cruz first.

O鈥橰eilly also tried to counsel Trump on not reacting to provocation, because 鈥測ou get in trouble when you react鈥� 鈥撀�, of a protester, 鈥淚鈥檇 like to punch him in the face.鈥澛�

鈥淚鈥檓 not gonna be provoked,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淏ut at the same time, you have to take tough actions when this happens. You can鈥檛 let them get away with it.鈥�

At Trump鈥檚 recent rally in Boca Raton, Fla., attendees said they liked Trump in spite of his inflammatory rhetoric, not because of it. Some excused him as a novice politician.听So it may be that Trump can tone down the language and still thrive. What may be most important is his passion, and his ability to reflect the anger and frustration of voters, while avoiding language that strikes most people as inflammatory.

鈥淗e can鈥檛 continue to speak this way in the general election, or he will lose,鈥� says Professor Jillson. But he has to hold on to some of that style, 鈥渂ecause people are intrigued. He has captured something out there that people are responding to. But in a general election context it鈥檚 a different group of voters, so you can鈥檛 simply live in the moment.鈥�

Members of the Republican 鈥渆stablishment鈥� are starting to come to grips with the fact that Trump may well win the nomination. Even Karl Rove, President George W. Bush鈥檚 political mastermind, is offering The Donald advice. In , his list of 10 suggestions started with this: 鈥淐hange your tone.鈥澛�

鈥淣othing justifies the disruptions at your rallies by protesters from MoveOn and Black Lives Matter,鈥� Mr. Rove writes. 鈥淏ut before you again urge your fans to 鈥榢nock the [expletive] out of them,鈥� ask yourself if any president you admire would say that.鈥�