Bloomberg and Trump trade barbs on Twitter, fueling feud

As the battle for the White House continues to heat up, President Trump and Michael Bloomberg escalated their feud on Thursday, taking to Twitter to trade insults.

The latest battle betwteen the two New Yorkers began Thursday morning when Mr. Trump fired off a pair of tweets mocking Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, for his height and equating him to Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor he went up against in the Republican presidential primary in 2016.

"Mini Mike Bloomberg is a LOSER who has money but can't debate and has zero presence, you will see. He reminds me of a tiny version of Jeb 'Low Energy' Bush, but Jeb has more political skill and has treated the Black community much better than Mini!" thee president tweeted.

"Mini Mike is a 5'4" mass of dead energy who does not want to be on the debate stage with these professional politicians. No boxes please. He hates Crazy Bernie and will, with enough money, possibly stop him. Bernie's people will go nuts!" Mr. Trump said in a second tweet, which included an altered photo of Bloomberg in an oversized suit and tie.

The president's insults prompted a fiery response from Bloomberg's Twitter account suggesting New Yorkers make fun of the president behind closed doors and scoff at his claims he is a self-made man.

".@realDonaldTrump - we know many of the same people in NY. Behind your back they laugh at you & call you a carnival barking clown. They know you inherited a fortune & squandered it with stupid deals and incompetence. I have the record & the resources to defeat you. And I will," the tweet from campaign staff read.

Bloomberg himself addressed the president's attacks during an event in Greensboro, North Carolina, during which he said Mr. Trump is "afraid" of him, as evidenced by his Twitter activity.

"The president attacked me again this morning on Twitter," he told supporters. "Thank you very much Donald. He sees our polls and I think it's fair to say he's scared because he knows I have the record and the resources to defeat him."

"Donald," Bloomberg added, "where I come from, we measure your height from your neck up."

While the president frequently attacks his Democratic opponents — he calls Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" and Bernie Sanders "crazy" — he has ramped up his tweets maligning Bloomberg.

The president claimed the ex-mayor is a "terrible debater and speaker" in a tweet last month and called his advertising blitz a "vanity project for him to get into the game."

Bloomberg fired back, saying he is "the expert on vanity projects."

The two also shelled out millions on dueling ads during the Super Bowl.

While Mr. Trump has Bloomberg beat on height — the president stands at 6 feet 2 inches compared to Bloomberg's 5 feet 7 inches — the former mayor is worth more. Forbes estimates Bloomberg is worth $61.8 billion as of Thursday, while the president's net worth is $3.1 billion.

In:
• Michael Bloomberg
• Donald Trump