Speaking at a town hall event on NBC's "Today" Thursday, Trump was asked about North Carolina's so-called "bathroom law," which, among other things, requires transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate in state government buildings as well as public schools and universities.
Trump said the law had caused unnecessary strife for the state, which he said had paid "a big price" economically. "There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate," said Trump. "There has been so little trouble."
"Grown adult men, strangers, should not be alone in a bathroom with little girls," Cruz said, calling his view "basic common sense."
After the law was signed in late March, Deutsche Bank halted plans to add 250 North Carolina jobs, while PayPal reversed a decision to open a 400-employee operation center in Charlotte. Local tourism boards have also said they've lost millions of dollars thanks to cancelled conventions and business meetings.
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The comments came as Trump drew closer to clinching the Republican nomination with a big win in his home state of New York earlier this week. If he becomes his party's nominee, Trump is likely to face pressure to moderate some of his stances to appeal to independents and women in the general election.
Still, Trump said he's opposed to efforts to create new, transgender bathrooms alongside single gendered ones, calling that push "discriminatory in a certain way" and "unbelievably expensive for businesses and the country.