--- description: Trump later fired back on Twitter, calling Romney "awkward and goofy" when he sought an endorsement from Trump in 2012 title: Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2513cdaccc61daa0/69885c078e06015e0146181f/donald-trump-18.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell' ## Video: Trump's Art of the Duel [Watch (HLS stream): Trump's Art of the Duel](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mwjW3v8J.m3u8) (2:22)  _Published 2016-01-27. As Donald Trump says he will not participate in Thursday's debate as part of his ongoing feud with Fox News' Megyn Kelly, TIME looks at his strategy in his many long-running disputes._ by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2016 11:53 PM CUT  Donald Trump appears at a news conference to endorse Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his wife Ann Romney looks on at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas in Las Vegas on February 2, 2012. Donald Trump appears at a news conference to endorse Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his wife Ann Romney looks on at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas in Las Vegas on February 2, 2012.Ethan Miller—Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2016 11:53 PM CUT A fight is brewing between 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Donald Trump. Romney [called into Fox News Wednesday](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/24/romney-suggests-bombshell-in-trumps-tax-returns.html "undefined") saying the top three Republican presidential candidates should make their tax forms public and that Trump’s may contain a “bombshell.” “We’re gonna select our nominee. We really ought to see from all three of these fellas what their taxes look like to see if there’s an issue there,” the 2012 GOP nominee said. “I think in Donald Trump’s case, it’s likely to be a bombshell.” Romney, a co-founder of private equity company Bain Capital, came under pressure during the 2012 race to disclose his tax returns. The former nominee sought out Trump’s endorsement in 2012, resulting in a series of awkward public appearances with the now-GOP frontrunner. Romney’s attack on Trump is reminiscent of a tactic used by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid against Romney himself, when Reid accused Romney of failing to pay taxes for a decade. Trump responded to Romney on Twitter, bashing him for allowing President Barack Obama’s reelection. “Mitt Romney, who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose tax returns made him look like a fool, is now playing tough guy,” Trump wrote. “When Mitt Romney asked me for my endorsement last time around, he was so awkward and goofy that we all should have known he could not win!” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/702632410341576704) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/702635699594469377) Romney’s criticism comes as Trump has won three of the first four early voting states and as the Republican establishment is confronting the increasing likelihood that Trump will be its standard-bearer in 2016\. Republican leaders are struggling for a way to halt Trump’s momentum. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/"},"headline":"Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell'","datePublished":"2016-02-24T23:53:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:21:33.659Z","description":"Trump fired back on Twitter, saying Romney's \"tax returns made him look like a fool\"","url":"https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/","keywords":["2016 Election","republicans","2016 Election topic","mitt romney","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2513cdaccc61daa0/69885c078e06015e0146181f/donald-trump-18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2513cdaccc61daa0/69885c078e06015e0146181f/donald-trump-18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald trump posing with celebrities","caption":"donald trump posing with celebrities","creditText":"Ethan Miller—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/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/","name":"Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump's Art of the Duel","description":"As Donald Trump says he will not participate in Thursday's debate as part of his ongoing feud with Fox News' Megyn Kelly, TIME looks at his strategy in his many long-running disputes.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mwjW3v8J/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-27T14:17:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mwjW3v8J.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/","duration":"PT2M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```