Donald Trump claims he will win his home state of New York - despite trailing by 20 points

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Donald Trump wears nothing if not a coat of swagger.

On Wednesday night in New York, where an average of polls puts his rival almost 20 points ahead of him, he vowed to win the Empire State on his way to the White House. He claimed that his performance would shock people.

“I’m a real New Yorker, folks,” he said. “You won’t get more of a New Yorker for president.”

The 70-year-old real estate developer was speaking at a meeting of the Conservative Party of New York State , a party that has promoted small government and conservative values since it was established in 1962. On Wednesday, the party formally adopted Mr Trump and his running mate Mike Pence as its own own candidates for the White House - something Mr Trump was happy to acccept.

Earlier this year, party has around 160,000 registered members making it the fourth largest in the state. If Mr Trump is going to hold true to his promise to win the state in which he was born, he will be required to overcome a huge lead in the polls currently by Hillary Clinton.

Speaking at the event at a hotel in New York’s Times Square, Mr Trump spoke little about his rival. Rather, he spoke about the ease with which he had own the Republican Party’s primary contest here.

“We’re going to do very well upstate,” he claimed. “I think we’re going to win New York. I think we’re going to do great in New York. It’s going to shock people.”

He said that during the primary contest, he had travelled around large parts of the state and seen factories and businesses that had been shuttered. He said if elected president he would bring backs jobs that had been lost to countries such as Mexico and else.

Mr Trump spent much of the evening, speaking about his involvement in a development project to repair the Wollman Rink in Central Park. He said that that he would use the same skills he used to rebuild the skating rink to rebuild parts of the state that have faced economic hardship and he mocked the developer who had brought in an engineer from Miami.

“How are you going to get ice with a guy from Miami,” he said.

Mr Trump earned warm applause from the small audience. But a number of people said they did not score him highly as a conservative.

“I’d score him six out of ten as a conservative,” said Eric Billies, a lawyer from New York City.

“I’m not decided if I I will vote for him. But I won’t vote for Hillary Clinton.” Eileen Chelales, who raises funds for a Catholic School in Brooklyn, said she believed Mr Trump would “certainly try” to lead the country. “You have to have a functioning Congress,” she said. “He will work with people from both sides of the aisle to put the country back on track.”

Mr Trump spoke for 20 minutes before leaving for televised question and answer session. Before finishing, he said: “We’re going to do a great job.”