After promises of change, Trump attacks Cruz, Kasich
Just as his campaign is promising a more "presidential" evolution of Donald Trump, the candidate himself seems to be resisting the proposed image change, reverting back to months-old attack lines in stump speeches and even dismissing his new chief strategist's expectation that he would "tone it down."
"Paul was down in Florida, and he said, 'You know, Donald might be changing a little bit over a period of time,'" Trump said Saturday of Paul Manafort, who in an attempt to smooth over relations with the Republican National Committee attended the RNC's last meeting in Florida earlier this week. "'Maybe he'll tone it down, maybe he won't, but who knows what happens.' I said, 'I don't like toning it down.' Isn't it nice that I'm not one of these teleprompter guys?"
Trump, speaking to a crowd of supporters in Waterbury, Connecticut, lamented that "it's very easy to be presidential."
"I was hearing about how I'm going to become presidential. And I could do it," the billionaire said. "My wife tells me to be more presidential, my daughter tells me to be more presidential, and Paul Manafort and (campaign manager) Corey (Lewandowski) and a lot of them say, be more presidential."
But now, Trump observed, "people are starting to say -- you know, look what got you here."
Being a more refined politician that used teleprompters, he argued, wouldn't earn him quite the same plaudits from voters as being the brash, aggressive candidate that's made it this far into the primary election season.
Throughout his Waterbury rally, Trump seemed intent on proving this point, delivering scathing criticisms of his rivals to wild applause from his audience.
The New York real estate mogul disparaged "lyin'" Ted Cruz on the issue of his Canadian citizenship, attacking Cruz as "straight out of the hills of Canada."
"Four years in Canada -- was a Canadian citizen until 14, 15 months ago!" Trump exclaimed. "And then he ran for the Senate, and they advised him, you know you're registered as a Canadian citizen. He said, 'Oh! I never knew that. Oh, I never.' He never knew he was a Canadian!"
The questions Trump had for Cruz over his presidential eligibility were first posited by the candidate in January, and though the issue has largely died down, Trump brought it to the fore once more in Connecticut.
"The first thing that the Democrats are going to do is sue him on the basis that he's not a naturalized citizen. That he wasn't born in this country," he said. "I happen to think they're gonna win, but who knows? I mean, who knows what happens? We'll see what's happens."
"But it's gonna happen," Trump guaranteed. "He's gonna be sued."
Of his other Republican rival for the White House, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Trump brought the heat against Kasich's last name, which he charged as being difficult to pronounce.
"I'm millions of votes more than Kasich," Trump said. "And I don't know how you pronounce his name. Kasich. It's I-C-H. Every time I see it, I say Kay-SITCH. But it's pronounced Kay-SICK."
"So I'm doing a very good job saying - but you know, it's really - you know, can we ask him to change the spelling of his name?" he questioned. "Are we allowed to do that?"
Trump's resurrection of his tried and true assaults on rivals is set against the backdrop of a more polished advertising push by the campaign in upcoming primary states.
In Pennsylvania, Trump is spending $2 million on a television ad blitz ahead of the state's Tuesday primary. The 30-second direct-to-camera spot falls in line with more traditional political advertising -- and it's not the only one that Trump has cut in recent days.
On Friday, Trump debuted an ad featuring his son, Donald Trump Jr., praising his father's "tough" presidential virtues.
And on Saturday, Trump took to Facebook in a scripted video meant to highlight his position against "establishment lobbyists and special interests."
"We'll work with the establishment, but they're no longer going to control what's happening," Trump promised voters in the nearly minute-long ad. "We're going to control it, and that's going to be good for you, and that's going to be my great honor, believe me."
CBS News' Sopan Deb contributed to this report.