In this April 21, 2016, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton listens during a campaign event in Hartford, Conn. Clinton can’t win enough delegates on April 25 to officially knock Bernie... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this April 21, 2016, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton listens during a campaign event in Hartford, Conn. Clinton can’t win enough delegates on April 25 to officially knock Bernie Sanders out of the race for president, but she can erase any honest doubts still left that she... (Associated Press) 
 
 BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A confident Donald Trump told supporters on Saturday that he's not changing his pitch to voters, a day after his chief adviser assured Republican officials their party's front-runner would show more restraint while campaigning. 
 
 "You know, being presidential's easy — much easier than what I have to do," he told thousands at a rally in Bridgeport, Connecticut. "Here, I have to rant and rave. I have to keep you people going. Otherwise you're going to fall asleep on me, right?" 
 
 Trump declared to the crowd that he has no intention of reversing any of his provocative policy plans, including building a wall along the length of the Southern border. 
 
 "Everything I say I'm going to do, folks, I'll do," he said. 
 
 Trump's new chief adviser, Paul Manafort, met Thursday with top Republican officials and told them his candidate, known for his over-the-top persona and brashness, has been "projecting an image." 
 
 "The part that he's been playing is now evolving," Manafort said. 
 
 At a rally in Waterbury, Connecticut, earlier Saturday, Trump joked about how it's easy to be presidential, making a series of faux somber faces. But he said told the crowd he can be serious and policy-minded when he has to be. 
 
 Manafort "said, 'you know, Donald can be different when he's in a room.' Who isn't," asked Trump. "When I'm out here talking to you people, I've got to be different." 
 
 The Republican front-runner and most of his rivals in both parties were out campaigning Saturday across the quintet of Northeastern states holding primaries on Tuesday, including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut. For the Republicans, in particular, the stakes are high as Trump looks to sweep the remaining contests and reach the required 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, while his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich look to thwart his efforts and force the race into a contested convention. 
 
 Trump revived his birther criticism of rival Cruz, which he has previously used to suggest the Texas senator is ineligible to run for president. 
 
 "Rafael! Straight out of the hills of Canada!" he declared, referring to Cruz by his given name. Most experts say that Cruz is eligible to serve in the White House even though he was born to an American mother on Canadian soil, but Trump has worked to sow doubts. 
 
 Cruz, in Pennsylvania on Saturday, addressed around 1,000 supporters in a high school outside Pittsburgh, and though the reception was raucous, the crowd didn't know how to react to the Texas senator's opening by saying, "Let me say something that is profoundly painful for someone who grew up as a fan of the Houston Oilers, God bless the Pittsburgh Steelers." 
 
 Cruz said Tuesday "is going to be a pivotal day," but he also traveled on Saturday to Indiana, which doesn't vote until next month. Trump is thought to be favored in Pennsylvania, while Cruz's deep evangelical roots could give him a boost in Indiana. 
 
 Cruz also rebuked Trump's recent suggestions that building separate transgender bathrooms is "discriminatory" and costly, saying Saturday that it should be "the choice of the given location, of the given local government to allow that, to provide for that." 
 
 Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also campaigned in Connecticut on Saturday. At a round-table event, she discussed ways to raise wages, promote early childhood education and reduce the pay gap between men and women with some of New Haven's working families. 
 
 "Equal pay — we shouldn't be talking about it in 2016. It is almost embarrassing," Clinton said. 
 
 Clinton heard workers describe their struggles with employers, home foreclosure and low wages. Clinton said it was "way past time that we have a raise in the nationwide minimum wage" of $7.25 an hour and said the nation should support cities and states like New York and California "that are willing to put a higher floor under low-wage workers." 
 
 Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, spoke to a boisterous crowd of mostly young people in Baltimore where he railed against big banks and highlighted his differences with Clinton on everything from the minimum wage to free trade agreements. 
 
 He hammered at "disastrous trade policies," describing them as not a sexy issue but an important issue, saying that "we are seeing corporation after corporation shut down in the United States throw millions of workers out in the street, people who are earning a living wage." 
 
 "I oppose every one of these disastrous trade agreements. She supported almost every one of them," he said, referring to Clinton, to a chorus of cheers. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Ken Thomas in New Haven, Connecticut, Susan Haigh in Waterbury, Connecticut and Vivian Salama in Washington contributed to this report. ||||| Donald Trump's chief lieutenants told skeptical Republican leaders Thursday that the GOP front-runner has been "projecting an image" so far in the 2016 primary season and "the part that he's been playing is now evolving" in a way that will improve his standing among general election voters. 
 
 The message, delivered behind closed doors in a private briefing, is part of the campaign's intensifying effort to convince party leaders Trump will moderate his tone in the coming months to help deliver big electoral gains this fall, despite his contentious ways. 
 
 Even as his team pressed Trump's case, he raised fresh concern among some conservatives by speaking against North Carolina's "bathroom law," which directs transgender people to use the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificates. Trump also came out against the federal government's plan to replace President Andrew Jackson with the civil-rights figure Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. 
 
 The developments came as the GOP's messy fight for the White House spilled into a seaside resort in south Florida. While candidates in both parties fanned out across the country before important primary contests in the Northeast, Hollywood's Diplomat Resort & Spa was transformed into a palm-treed political battleground. 
 
 Trump's newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort, made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities: one in private and one onstage. 
 
 "When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose," Manafort said in a private briefing. 
 
 "You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy," he said. 
 
 The Associated Press obtained a recording of the closed-door exchange. 
 
 "He gets it," Manafort said of Trump's need to moderate his personality. "The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change." 
 
 The message was welcomed by some party officials but criticized by others who suggested it raised doubts about his authenticity. 
 
 "He's trying to moderate. He's getting better," said Ben Carson, a Trump ally who was part of the GOP's front-runner's RNC outreach team. 
 
 While Trump's top advisers were promising Republican leaders that the GOP front-runner would moderate his message, the candidate was telling voters he wasn't ready to act presidential. 
 
 "I just don't know if I want to do it yet," Trump said during a raucous rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday that was frequently interrupted by protesters. 
 
 "At some point, I'm going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored," he said, predicting that the size of his crowds would dwindle if he dialed back his rhetoric. 
 
 There was evidence of drama on the Democratic side as well. 
 
 Prominent Southern Democrats urged Bernie Sanders to stop dismissing Hillary Clinton's landslide primary wins across the South, where the front-runner's popularity among non-whites has helped fuel her success. 
 
 Sanders said the results in the South "distort reality" because they came from the country's "most conservative region." 
 
 Don Fowler of South Carolina, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and other Clinton supporters told Sanders in a letter that "our national Democratic leaders" should "invest in our races and causes — to amplify our voices, not diminish them." 
 
 Yet as Clinton's grasp on the Democratic nomination tightens, Trump's overwhelming Republican delegate lead has done little to calm concerns from GOP leaders, gathered at the resort for the party's meeting. 
 
 As Trump continues to rail against "a rigged" nomination process, he sent Manafort and his newly hired political director, Rick Wiley, to help improve relationships with party officials at the meeting. 
 
 "He might not win some of these blue states, but you can make the Democrats spend money and time," Wiley said. 
 
 Trump's team also signaled to RNC members a fresh willingness to dip into the New York real estate mogul's personal fortune to fund his presidential bid, in addition to helping the national committee raise money, a promise that comes just as Trump launches his first big television advertising campaign in a month. 
 
 His campaign reserved about $2 million worth of air time in soon-to-vote Pennsylvania and Indiana, advertising tracker Kantar Media's CMAG shows. 
 
 "He's willing to spend what is necessary to finish this out. That's a big statement from him," Manafort said in the briefing. 
 
 Trump is increasingly optimistic about his chances in five states holding primary contests Tuesday: Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. He is now the only Republican candidate who can possibly collect the 1,237-delegate majority needed to claim the nomination before the party's July convention. 
 
 Chief rival Ted Cruz hopes Trump will fall short of a nomination-clinching delegate majority so that he can turn enough delegates to his side at the convention to give him the prize. 
 
 The political posturing came as Trump sparked new criticism by addressing the debate over which bathrooms transgender people should use. 
 
 Speaking at a town-hall event on NBC's "Today" show Thursday, Trump said North Carolina's bathroom law has caused unnecessary strife and transgender people should be able to choose which bathroom to use. 
 
 "There have been very few complaints the way it is," Trump said. "People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate." 
 
 Cruz lashed out at Trump's "support of grown men using women's restrooms." The Texas senator called Trump's position "a reckless policy that will endanger our loved ones." 
 
 Trump also said the plan to swap Jackson for Tubman on the $20 bill is an act of "pure political correctness." 
 
 ——— 
 
 Associated Press writers Alan Fram in Hollywood, Jill Colvin in New York, Julie Bykowicz in Washington, Julie Pace in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Errin Haines Whack in Philadelphia contributed to this report. ||||| Pennsylvania Capitol Police officer R.L. Evans asks protesters to move to a designated area before a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Thursday, April 21, 2016, outside the Pennsylvania... (Associated Press) 
 
 Pennsylvania Capitol Police officer R.L. Evans asks protesters to move to a designated area before a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Thursday, April 21, 2016, outside the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. (Chris Dunn/York Daily Record via AP) YORK DISPATCH... (Associated Press) 
 
 HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — His general-election appeal in question, Donald Trump's senior team is promising anxious Republicans that voters will see "a real different guy" soon after the GOP front-runner claims his party's presidential nomination. 
 
 "When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose," Paul Manafort, who is leading Trump's primary election strategy, told Republican National Committee members in a private briefing late Thursday. The Associated Press obtained a recording of the discussion. 
 
 "You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy," Manafort said. 
 
 "He gets it," Manafort said of Trump's need to moderate his brash personality. "The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change." 
 
 The message is part of the campaign's intensifying effort to convince party leaders that Trump will help deliver big electoral gains this fall, despite his contentious ways. Yet it also opens him up to questions about his authenticity. 
 
 Republican rival Ted Cruz seized on the remarks in a radio interview late Thursday. 
 
 "I'm actually going to give Trump a little bit of credit here. He's being candid. He's telling us he's lying to us," Cruz told host Mark Levin. "You look at what his campaign manager says, is that this is just an act. This is just a show." 
 
 The Texas senator continued: "When Donald talks about building a wall, when Donald talks about enforcing immigration laws, when Donald talks about, I guess, anything, that it's all an act, a show." 
 
 The Republican National Committee gathered at a seaside resort in south Florida for its annual spring meeting. While candidates in both parties targeted primary contests in the Northeast, Hollywood's Diplomat Resort & Spa turned into a palm-treed political battleground. 
 
 Senior advisers for Trump, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich courted RNC members in a series of private meetings on the resort's grounds, sometimes sitting at adjacent tables in the marble-floored lobby. Trump's tightening grasp of his party's presidential nomination dominated much of the hallway discussion. 
 
 "He's trying to moderate. He's getting better," said Ben Carson, a Trump ally who was part of the GOP's front-runner's RNC outreach team. 
 
 Despite his team's aggressive message, Trump was telling voters he wasn't quite ready to act presidential. "I just don't know if I want to do it yet," he said during a raucous rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that was frequently interrupted by protesters. 
 
 "At some point, I'm going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored," he said, predicting that the size of his crowds would dwindle if he dialed back his rhetoric. 
 
 Trump's team also signaled to RNC members that he was willing to dip into his personal fortune to fund his presidential bid, in addition to helping the national committee raise money, a promise that came as Trump prepared to launch his first big television advertising campaign in a month. 
 
 His campaign reserved about $2 million worth of air time in soon-to-vote Pennsylvania and Indiana, advertising tracker Kantar Media's CMAG shows. 
 
 "He's willing to spend what is necessary to finish this out. That's a big statement from him," Manafort said in the briefing. 
 
 Manafort also insisted that Trump is prepared to work closely with party leaders, despite the candidate's near-daily public attacks on what he calls "a rigged" presidential nomination system. 
 
 "Is Donald Trump running against the Republican National Committee? The answer is he is not," Manafort said. 
 
 Trump is increasingly optimistic about his chances in five states holding primary contests Tuesday: Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. He is now the only candidate who can possibly collect the 1,237-delegate majority needed to claim the GOP nomination before the party's July convention. 
 
 Cruz and Kasich hope Trump will fall short so that they can have a chance to turn enough delegates to win the nomination at the convention. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Alan Fram in Hollywood and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
– So much for a changed Donald Trump. He told supporters on Saturday that he's not changing his pitch to voters, a day after his chief adviser assured Republican officials their party's front-runner would show more restraint while campaigning, reports the AP. "I sort of don’t like toning it down,” he said at a rally in Connecticut, per the New York Times. “Isn’t it nice that I’m not one of these teleprompter guys?” Trump also declared to the crowd that he has no intention of reversing any of his provocative policy plans, including building a wall along the length of the Southern border. "Everything I say I'm going to do, folks, I'll do," he said. Trump's new chief adviser, Paul Manafort, met Thursday with top Republican officials and told them his candidate has been "projecting an image." The "part that he's been playing is now evolving," Manafort said. At a rally in Waterbury, Trump joked about acting presidential, making a series of faux somber faces. He also revived his birther criticism of rival Ted Cruz, which he has previously used to suggest the Texas senator is ineligible to run for president. "Rafael! Straight out of the hills of Canada!" he declared, referring to Cruz by his given name and the country of his birth. The Republican front-runner and most of his rivals in both parties were out campaigning Saturday across the Northeastern states holding primaries on Tuesday: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.