Trump: Kasich 'Hit Oil' in Ohio With Fracking Industry

Donald Trump said Wednesday that he still thinks New Hampshire second-place finisher John Kasich is "a nice guy," but said his success as governor of Ohio came from allowing the fracking industry into his state.

"He hit oil, that's what I think," the front-runner and New Hampshire winner told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "What happened is he got lucky, but he also let them go after it [fracking] unlike other governors, where they didn't let them go after it."

And oil was hit in "prime time," Trump continued, when prices were still high, and "that makes up for a lot of sins."

Meanwhile, he hinted that he will likely be taking a "tougher stance" against Kasich, after hearing a negative commercial targeted at him.

"So maybe I'm not in love with him as much as I was prior to hearing the commercial," Trump said. "It was a false commercial. I thought it would be somebody else, but it wasn't, it was John . . . I was surprised to hear it. He talked about [how] he's not going negative, but he's doing a negative commercial on me. I didn't like that. "

Trump, though said he isn't ruling out challenges from any of the candidates, who are "smart, intelligent, very accomplished people . . . I think they're all potential threats, but I'm okay at handling threats."

Trump told the show he also spoke with Gov. Chris Christie, who has gone home to New Jersey to reassess his campaign, and he praised the outspoken governor for his performance during Saturday night's debate.

"He's a friend of mine and he called me last night and we had a long talk and he's a little disappointed because he really did do a great job. He did an amazing job during that debate," said Trump.

"I was witness to it because I was standing next to Marco, who I like very much, and it was a strange kind of a situation going on there. It was a little bit strange and Marco understands that and he'll be able to fix it, I hope."

And Trump told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program that he hopes Christie will remain in the race.

"He really has got a lot of talent," said Trump. "I don't know if he's getting out at all, I have no idea. But hey, I like everybody to get out. I want everybody to get out except for me . . . I think somebody like Jeb Bush has far less talent than Chris and he's still in."

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