--- title: Donald Trump Calls Ted Cruz An 'Anchor Baby in Canada' description: "Now, Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen. Right?" canonical: https://time.com/4200379/donald-trump-ted-cruz-anchor-baby/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-29T20:10:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:38.471Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Calls Cruz An 'Anchor Baby in Canada' og:description: "Now, Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen. Right?" og:url: https://time.com/4200379/donald-trump-ted-cruz-anchor-baby/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53caec371ba3b14a/69887b510b72e35c2c6e7e3b/donald-trump17.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on stage during a Town Hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 29, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Calls Cruz An 'Anchor Baby in Canada' twitter:description: "Now, Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen. Right?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53caec371ba3b14a/69887b510b72e35c2c6e7e3b/donald-trump17.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Calls Cruz An 'Anchor Baby in Canada' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 29, 2016 8:10 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on stage during a Town Hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 29, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on stage during a Town Hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 29, 2016.Scott Eisen—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 29, 2016 8:10 PM UTC Republican front-runner Donald Trump attacked rival Ted Cruz over his birthplace, using a new and offensive term. “Now, Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen. Right? But he’s an anchor baby in Canada. No, he’s an anchor baby. Ted Cruz is an anchor baby in Canada,” Trump said at an event in Nashua, New Hampshire. Generally considered offensive, the term “anchor baby” refers to children who are born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens. Trump appears to be using the term to insinuate that Cruz could have become a Canadian citizen. (In 2014, Cruz [renounced his Canadian citizenship](http://time.com/2854513/ted-cruz-canadian-citizenship/) only months after learning that he qualified.) Trump added that Cruz got “pummeled last night” at the Republican debate. He admitted Friday that his decision to skip the debate was risky, but ultimately concluded that he had made the right choice. “In theory, I would’ve rather done the debate because you’re leading. You don’t want to change the wheels,” Trump said. “I took a chance … Whatever the result I did the right thing. I did the right thing because I did something great for veterans.” Though he was absent last night, Trump was on the mind’s of the candidates and viewers. The billionaire hosted his own event across town, but was central to the narrative of Thursday’s debat Trump was [mentioned constantly](http://time.com/4199467/gop-debate-donald-trump/) last night. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4200379/donald-trump-ted-cruz-anchor-baby/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4200379/donald-trump-ted-cruz-anchor-baby/"},"headline":"Trump Calls Cruz An 'Anchor Baby in Canada'","datePublished":"2016-01-29T20:10:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:38.471Z","description":"'Now, Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen. 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