What does Trump clinching the Republican nomination actually mean?
Trump got "to the magic number." What's that? There are a total of 2,472 GOP delegates, so a majority is half of that number plus one, or 1,237 delegates. There weren't any primaries yesterday or today, so where did the extra delegates come from? Most delegates are bound to vote for a specific candidate on the first ballot at the convention, but some are "unbound." They vote for whomever they want, but they can also pledge their support for a particular candidate before the convention. But wait, wasn't Trump already the de facto nominee? Not until he secured the 1,237 delegates. Before, then rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasick hoped to tally enough wins to halt Trump's progress and stage a contested convention. How does this effect those Republicans who haven't rallied around Trump? Signs are pointing to the party beginning the unification process. If you look at a recent NBC News poll, 72 percent of Republicans said they'd support Trump over Hillary Clinton, compared to 13 percent who said they wouldn't.