Donald Trump has reclaimed his title as the sole front-runner in the crowded field of Republican 2016 White House hopefuls, as he received the support of 36 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, a new national poll revealed.

The real-estate tycoon holds a 20-point lead over his closest challenger, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has the backing of 16 percent of GOP supporters, CNN reported based on the survey it conducted in collaboration with the Opinion Research Corporation (ORC).

Cruz, a Tea Party favorite, for his part, is hotly pursued by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (14 percent) and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (12 percent), while all other Republican candidates can currently count on less than 5 percent of their party's electorate.

Trump himself attributed his continued lead at least in part to the Nov. 13 Islamic State militant group's terrorist attack in Paris and the Dec. 2 shooting in San Bernardino, California, suggesting that Americans placed their trust in him when it came to defending the country along with its economy, according to Politico.

"I'm gonna get people jobs, and I'm going to protect people," the former "Apprentice" star promised. "And that's why whenever there's a tragedy, everything goes up, my numbers go way up because we have no strength in this country, we have weak, sad politicians."

Many Republicans seem to agree, and the CNN/ORC survey showed that 42 percent of GOP backers believe Trump is the candidate who would be most effective at solving the country's problems. Thirty-seven percent, meanwhile, told pollsters that they believed that the billionaire businessman could best handle the responsibilities of being commander-in-chief.

The national survey, meanwhile, means bad news primarily for Carson, who experienced a 8-point dip since its last edition in October.

Jeb Bush, widely seen as the establishment candidate, and Rand Paul, an outspoken libertarian, meanwhile, also lost support. The former Florida governor is now backed by only 3 percent of Republicans (down 5 points), which the Kentucky senator clocks in at just 1 percent (down 4 points).