SAN DIEGO – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, on the brink of clinching the Republican nomination, promised Monday to maintain an American military “with no comparable power anywhere in the world.”

Romney spoke a day before Texas voters were likely to give him enough delegates to formally clinch the Republican presidential nomination, a formality that cements his status as President Barack Obama’s general election opponent.

“It’s a big day tomorrow,” Romney said late Monday. “I’m looking forward to the good news.”

Texas’ primary offers 152 delegates, and Romney is just 58 delegates shy of the 1,144 needed to become the nominee. Romney will be in Las Vegas today attending a fundraiser hosted by celebrity real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Trump earlier in the week returned to the controversy over where Obama was born.

Romney has declined to repudiate Trump for embracing the fringe view, saying Monday evening that while he doesn’t agree with all the people who support him, he appreciates their help to get him at least 50.1 percent of the vote in November.

Earlier Monday, Romney faced a San Diego crowd estimated at 5,000 in what was billed as a Memorial Day service paying tribute to the nation’s war dead, not a campaign rally.

In San Diego, Romney was joined by McCain, a Vietnam veteran who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. McCain said that Romney, “I believe, is fully qualified to be commander in chief.”