--- ---  # Donald Trump Begins Attack on Ted Cruz Over Twitter  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:11 PM UTCPublished: Dec 11, 2015 4:03 PM UTC  Left: Donald Trump attends the 2015 US Open on Sept. 8, 2015 in New York City; Right: Ted Cruz speaks to supporters at his Religious Liberty Rally on Aug. 21, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. Left: Donald Trump attends the 2015 US Open on Sept. 8, 2015 in New York City; Right: Ted Cruz speaks to supporters at his Religious Liberty Rally on Aug. 21, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa.Al Bello—Getty Images; Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:11 PM UTCPublished: Dec 11, 2015 4:03 PM UTC The ceasefire between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz may have just ended. Cruz has been careful not to attack Trump so far on the campaign trail, likely in hopes of scooping up the business mogul’s voters if he drops out of the race. But comments by the Texas senator questioning Trump’s “judgement” from a private fundraiser earlier this week were leaked to the New York _Times._ “Both of them I like and respect,” Cruz said of Trump and Ben Carson, one of two other political neophytes in the race., [according to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/10/ted-cruz-questions-donald-trumps-judgment-to-be-president/?%5Fr=0). “I don’t believe either one of them is going to be our president.” “You look at Paris, you look at San Bernardino, it’s given a seriousness to this race, that people are looking for: Who is prepared to be a commander in chief? Who understands the threats we face?” he said. “Who am I comfortable having their finger on the button? Now that’s a question of strength, but it’s also a question of judgment. And I think that is a question that is a challenging question for both of them.” Trump, who has said that [Cruz would have to attack him first](http://time.com/4134108/donald-trump-ted-cruz-attacks/) before he’d fire back, seized the opportunity. He tweeted Friday morning: > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/675296416529534976) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/675297372642148352) Trump’s use of the word “bosses” hints at his possible line of attack: that Cruz is a Washington insider beholden to wealthy donors. Still, Cruz tried to diffuse the situation with a tweet a bit later on Friday, saying Trump is “terrific”: > [](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/675360299747184640) Trump will speak Friday night at a rally in Iowa. Donald Trump Begins Attack on Ted Cruz Over Twitter ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4145796/donald-trump-ted-cruz-fight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4145796/donald-trump-ted-cruz-fight/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Begins Attack on Ted Cruz Over Twitter","datePublished":"2015-12-11T16:03:00.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T22:11:04.000Z","description":"A fight that Trump has long predicted may have just begun","url":"https://time.com/4145796/donald-trump-ted-cruz-fight/","keywords":["2016 Election","republicans","2016 Election topic","ted cruz","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ddcda2c6b73210/698862cdcd1bba08ab6fd15b/trump-cruz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ddcda2c6b73210/698862cdcd1bba08ab6fd15b/trump-cruz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump-Cruz","caption":"Left: Donald Trump attends the 2015 US Open on Sept. 8, 2015 in New York City; Right: Ted Cruz speaks to supporters at his Religious Liberty Rally on Aug. 21, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa.","creditText":"Al Bello—Getty Images; Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4145796/donald-trump-ted-cruz-fight/","name":"Donald Trump Begins Attack on Ted Cruz Over Twitter"}}]}] ```