海角大神

Think Hurricane Trump is blowing hard now? 聽Here鈥檚 our prediction: It鈥檚 only going to intensify.

Maybe that doesn鈥檛 seem possible given the disruption billionaire Donald Trump has already brought to the Republican presidential race. But signs indicate that the conflicts he鈥檚 created with his negative comments about Mexican immigration and other issues will only get worse and draw even more attention in days and weeks to come.

Here鈥檚 why:

He's still digging. Trump hasn鈥檛 really apologized for saying that Mexico is pushing rapists and other bad folks over the US border. If anything he鈥檚 doubled down. On Wednesday he told NBC News that he鈥檚 got lots of (legal) Latino immigrants working for him on his construction projects and that they 鈥渓ove鈥� him.

He creates jobs and Hispanics like that, said Trump.

鈥淚f I get the nomination, I鈥檒l win the Latino vote,鈥� The Donald predicted.

Way to keep the focus on a subject that鈥檚 splitting the party and infuriating an important part of the electorate! Fellow GOP hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham complained about this himself on Wednesday, saying that his party hasn鈥檛 been helping itself on immigration and that it risks letting Trump set the pace on the issue.

鈥淢y party is in a hole with Hispanics 鈥� the first rule of politics when you鈥檙e in a hole is to stop digging,鈥� Senator Graham of South Carolina said following a Washington speech. 鈥淎nd somebody needs to take the shovel out of Donald Trump鈥檚 hand.鈥�

His exit doors are closing. How鈥檚 Trump going to manage his inevitable departure from the race? That鈥檚 getting harder to see. At one point it seemed obvious that he had a face-saving escape plan via 鈥淐elebrity Apprentice鈥� 鈥� he鈥檇 reach a point where, reluctantly, he鈥檇 just have to drop out of the race to re-sign his NBC contract and restart production, or risk losing the show. He鈥檚 said that鈥檚 a big reason he never jumped into the race in the past.

Now he鈥檚 lost the show anyway. NBC has cut ties with him over his immigration remarks. That鈥檚 one soft exit, gone.

Of course most candidates just withdraw after losing a few primaries and the money dries up. They say something about respecting the will of the voters. Do you see Trump handling defeat without blame and recrimination? Us neither.

Maybe the Federal Election Commission deadline for more financial disclosures could be an out here. Trump will hit that some time in the fall. He鈥檇 say that big investments won鈥檛 let him reveal details or something like that, and stop running.

Or maybe he鈥檒l win. We doubt that in the extreme, but we鈥檝e been wrong about Trump before.

He's a target. Republican also-rans desperate to make the Top 10 have a new strategy: Trumpify.

In other words, attack, decry, or otherwise try to pick a fight with the candidate who鈥檚 getting the most media attention in the race. Maybe that will boost a national profile just enough to flop over the Fox News threshold, into the Top 10 as measured by major polls, and into the crucial first national debate.

That鈥檚 why former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has recorded a full two-minute video centered on countering Trump鈥檚 immigration assertions. That鈥檚 why Graham made a point of criticizing Trump. Carly Fiorina and Rick Santorum have done the same thing.

鈥淔or some of the lower-tier 鈥� the B-squad 鈥� Trump is a perfect vehicle to get into the press. Why not toss a few statements at him and see what sticks?鈥� writes Philip Bump of the Washington Post political blog The Fix, making this point.

But make no mistake: Trump seems sure to make the cut for that Aug. 6 debate showdown. The category of storm he is at that point remains to be seen.