--- title: Trump: Romney 'Begged' For My Endorsement in 2012 description: In a wide-ranging speech, Republican front-runner Donald Trump hit back at Mitt Romney Thursday, criticizing him as a failed candidate canonical: https://time.com/4246947/trump-romney-begged-endorsement-2012/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-03T19:48:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:24.114Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: Romney 'Begged' For My Endorsement in 2012 og:description: "I could have said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees,' he would have dropped to his knees" og:url: https://time.com/4246947/trump-romney-begged-endorsement-2012/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d950a87ac8170e0/6988802d0a4a221f0e9c8a8d/mitt-romney-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4932 og:image:height: 2774 og:image:alt: mitt-romney-donald-trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: Romney 'Begged' For My Endorsement in 2012 twitter:description: "I could have said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees,' he would have dropped to his knees" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d950a87ac8170e0/6988802d0a4a221f0e9c8a8d/mitt-romney-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump: Romney 'Begged' For My Endorsement in 2012 > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c1f6661f-391c-40da-998a-0dc37c2fcb36&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Romney's Speech on Trump [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Romney's Speech on Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BI9vQbgP.m3u8) (2:28)  _Published 2016-03-03_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 3, 2016 7:48 PM UTC  Mitt Romney gives a speech on the state of the Republican party at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on the campus of the University of Utah on March 3, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mitt Romney gives a speech on the state of the Republican party at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on the campus of the University of Utah on March 3, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. George Frey—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 3, 2016 7:48 PM UTC In a wide-ranging speech, Republican front-runner Donald Trump hit back at Mitt Romney Thursday, criticizing him as a failed candidate who had “begged” for his endorsement in the 2012 presidential campaign. Speaking at a press conference in Portland, Maine, Trump argued that Romney was a “choke artist” who lost the third presidential debate, disappeared from the campaign trail and was defeated in a winnable race against President Obama. “Mitt was a disaster as a candidate,” he said. “He let us down. He should have won.” Trump was responding to [a hard-hitting and unprecedented speech](http://time.com/4246564/romney-calls-on-republican-voters-to-stop-trump/) earlier in the day at the University of Utah in which Romney called him “a phony, a fraud,” arguing that he did not represent the true values of conservatism. **Read More:** [_Read Mitt Romney’s Speech About Donald Trump_](http://time.com/4246596/donald-trump-mitt-romney-utah-speech/) He then went on to note that Romney [sought his endorsement in the 2012 primary](http://time.com/4246367/donald-trump-mitt-romney-2012/), coming to Trump Tower for a private meeting. He said that in the closed-doors meeting Romney “begged” for his support. “I could have said, ‘Mitt, drop to your knees,’ he would have dropped to his knees,” he said. “He was begging me.” The back-and-forth between the previous nominee and the presumptive front-runner came in the midst of a last-ditch effort by the Republican establishment to prevent Trump from securing the nomination before the convention in Cleveland. ## Transcript And let me put it very plainly. If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished. But you say, wait, wait, wait. Isn't he a huge business success? Doesn't he know what he's talking about? No he isn't. And no he doesn't. His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business, he didn't create it. And what ever happened to Trump Airlines? How about Trump University? And then there's Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka. And Trump Stakes. And Trump Mortgage. A business genius, he is not. If the other candidates can find some common ground, I believe we can nominate a person who can win the general election, and who will represent the values and policies of conservatism. Given the current delegate selection process, that means that I'd vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, and for John Kasich in Ohio, and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state. Now Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. [ LAUGH ] I'm afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart. You know we've long referred to him as The Donald. He's the only person in the entire country to whom we have added an article before his name and it wasn't because he had attributes we admired. Here's what I know Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. [ APPLAUSE ] He's playing the members of the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the white house, and all we get is a lousy hat. His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgement to be president And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill. I'm convinced America has greatness ahead. And this is a time for choosing. God bless us to choose a nominee who will make that vision a reality. Thank you and God bless you all. Thank you. 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