--- title: Donald Trump Says He Has 'Far Better Judgment' Than Ted Cruz description: Donald Trump said he has “far better judgment” than Ted Cruz after his Republican presidential rival questioned his discretion last week. canonical: https://time.com/4146936/trump-judgment-ted-cruz/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-13T15:51:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:18.081Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Says He Has 'Far Better Judgment' Than Ted Cruz og:description: Trump also praised his "strong temperament" og:url: https://time.com/4146936/trump-judgment-ted-cruz/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30e3d21ec05bbef0/698875242dce0109bc9e6ee2/gettyimages-496567892.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Milwaukee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Says He Has 'Far Better Judgment' Than Ted Cruz twitter:description: Trump also praised his "strong temperament" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30e3d21ec05bbef0/698875242dce0109bc9e6ee2/gettyimages-496567892.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says He Has 'Far Better Judgment' Than Ted Cruz ## Video: Donald Trump: 'I Have to Win' [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump: 'I Have to Win'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RaDVQ2PJ.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2015-12-09. Watch Time magazine's interview with Donald Trump for Person of the Year_  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 13, 2015 3:51 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and Ben Carson (C) looks on as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during the Republican Presidential Debate on Nov. 10. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and Ben Carson (C) looks on as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during the Republican Presidential Debate on Nov. 10.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 13, 2015 3:51 PM UTC Donald Trump said he has [“far better judgment” than Ted Cruz](http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/13/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-judgment/) after his Republican presidential rival questioned his discretion last week in leaked recordings. “I’ll tell you what, my judgment’s great,” Trump said Sunday on CNN. “I was against going into Iraq. That’s good judgment. I was for bombing the oil long before anyone else thought about it. That’s good judgment. “I have great judgment,” the real estate magnate added. “I would say I have far better judgment than Ted.” Cruz last week said he didn’t know if Trump and fellow candidate Ben Carson were prepared to lead America at a private fundraiser, [according to audio released by the New York _Times_.](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/10/ted-cruz-questions-donald-trumps-judgment-to-be-president/) “You look at Paris, you look at San Bernardino, it’s given a seriousness to this race,” Cruz said at the time. “People are looking for who is prepared to be a Commander-in-Chief. Who understands the threats we face. ‘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 touted his business success and boasted about having a “great” and “strong temperament” while responding to Cruz’s comments during a taped interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/13/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-judgment/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4146936/trump-judgment-ted-cruz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4146936/trump-judgment-ted-cruz/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says He Has 'Far Better Judgment' Than Ted Cruz","datePublished":"2015-12-13T15:51:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:18.081Z","description":"Trump also praised his \"strong temperament\"","url":"https://time.com/4146936/trump-judgment-ted-cruz/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Election 2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30e3d21ec05bbef0/698875242dce0109bc9e6ee2/gettyimages-496567892.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30e3d21ec05bbef0/698875242dce0109bc9e6ee2/gettyimages-496567892.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Milwaukee","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and Ben Carson (C) looks on as U.S. Sen. 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