AP/Randall Hill
Donald Trump.
This step is the closest he's come to officially launching a White House bid and, in a conversation with Business Insider on Wednesday, he suggested it should serve as notice to those who doubt he's seriously considering the 2016 race due to the fact he decided not to run last time around following a lengthy flirtation with the prospect.
"This time, I'm very far down the line, so we'll see what happens," Trump said. "I'm going to surprise a lot of people."
In fact, Trump pointed to his doubters as proof of the strength of his candidacy.
"I'm doing well in polls and people think I'm not running!" he said.
Now that he's one step from an official campaign launch, Trump said he will make a final decision by the summer.
"I would say June or July," Trump said, adding, "For an announcement one way or the other."
Establishing the committee will allow Trump to hire campaign staff and travel to early primary states.
"We have a big staff and a lot of other things too," Trump said. "We have a staff of people in Iowa, South Carolina, and also, very importantly, in New Hampshire."
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, launched her campaign on Sunday and her team has indicated her initial effort will be designed to appear "grassroots" rather than as a large operation. Trump said he will employ the opposite strategy.
"I'm going big," he said. "I get the biggest crowds. I get standing O's when I speak because people like that they know that I'm not going to let China rip us off, I'm not going to let Mexico continue to rip us off ... Japan is doing a big number and nobody knows it."
While Clinton seems eager to show Americans she's not out of touch despite her massive fortune and years in
"I've done so many things and so many deals. I've had such success and a lot of people may view that not as positive as it should be viewed," Trump said, adding, "But that's the kind of mind that you need when you're negotiating with Russia, when you're negotiating with Iran. ... You need somebody that knows how to make deals."
Furthermore, Trump isn't convinced Clinton's rebranding efforts will work.
"I don't know if she's going to pull it off," Trump said. "People know Hillary. I don't know if you can change 30 or 40 years of history by going small in Iowa."
In her early appearances on the campaign trail, Clinton has also struck a populist tone with comments criticizing high executive salaries, student debt, and low tax rates for hedge fund managers. Trump said he doesn't believe Clinton will really take on big business interests due to her relationships with donors.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
This photo is from 2012, when Donald Trump thought better of Mitt Romney and endorsed him.
Along with Clinton, Trump weighed in on his potential Republican rivals in his conversation with Business Insider. Trump complimented Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who launched his campaign last month, for focusing on the religious right.
"I think it's a great base, certainly a base that should be thought of very highly," Trump said of conservative Christians. "It's certainly something that a lot of people are going after."
Trump had harsher words for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), who kicked off his presidential bid on April 7.
"He's becoming less libertarian. He was very libertarian, now he's becoming less libertarian. I think that might hurt his base," Trump said of Paul. "He's got a very fine line to toe. He's changed his views quite a bit and he's got to be careful. ... His libertarian views are not so libertarian any more."
While Trump isn't ready to officially say he's entering the presidential race - there's one office it seems he's definitely not running for. Business Insider asked Trump if he'd consider running for vice president if one of the other Republicans tapped him as a running mate.
Trump seemed decidedly uninterested in the idea of running in another candidate's shadow.
"It would be something that would be very difficult for me to do," Trump said.