--- title: Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell' description: Trump later fired back on Twitter, calling Romney "awkward and goofy" when he sought an endorsement from Trump in 2012 canonical: https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-24T23:53:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:58.204Z article:section: Politics og:title: Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell' og:description: Trump fired back on Twitter, saying Romney's "tax returns made him look like a fool" og:url: https://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2513cdaccc61daa0/69885c078e06015e0146181f/donald-trump-18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: donald trump posing with celebrities og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell' twitter:description: Trump fired back on Twitter, saying Romney's "tax returns made him look like a fool" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2513cdaccc61daa0/69885c078e06015e0146181f/donald-trump-18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Romney Says Trump's Tax Returns May Contain a 'Bombshell' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a072d661-4329-425e-8c92-c36669c74cfb&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## 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](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 24, 2016 11:53 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 24, 2016 11:53 PM UTC 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) 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. ## Transcript You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Jeb Bush. Megyn Kelly. Hilary Clinton. Muslims. Lindsey Graham. Rubio. Rand Baul. John McCain. Rick Perry. I'm not a fan of Megyn Kelly. I don't like her. We have very stupid people in our country negotiating for us. I described Jeb Bush as a low energy individual. He's a war hero because he was captured. Hillary, that's not a president. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Here, and why don't you apologize for her right now? No, I won't do that because I said nothing wrong. Is there anybody you would like to apologize to right now yourself? [ LAUGH ] No. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Megyn Kelly's really biased against me. She knows that. I know that. Everybody knows that. Do you really think she can be fair at a debate? [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Here's the problem with political correctness. It takes too long. We don't have time. NBC Wall Street Journal just came out with a poll Headline, Trump way up, Cruz going down. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever. I never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. The simple fact is [ CROSSTALK ]. I didn't want to. Excuse me! One second No [ CROSSTALK ] More energy tonight, I like that. 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