Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's call for his state's voters to reject Ted Cruz's GOP presidential bid came as a surprise, even though "Ted is not a person that's liked."
"He's a nasty guy, and people don't like him," Trump told Fox News'
"Fox & Friends" program of his nearest rival for the GOP nomination, but still, "I was really surprised to see that."
On Tuesday, Branstad said a Cruz presidency could be
"very damaging" to Iowa, as a corn-producing state, and slammed Cruz's support for "Big Oil," and his 2013 bill to eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates that all gas sold in the United States include a certain percentage of biofuels like ethanol.
"Terry Branstad is a very highly-respected man," said Trump Wednesday. "Actually, he's the longest-serving governor in the history of the United States. That's something. He broke that record about a month ago, or two months ago. That's an amazing record, and the people of Iowa love him, and he cares for them."
The Cruz camp has been critical concerning Sarah Palin's endorsement and Trump's reputation as a deal-maker, but Trump on Wednesday pointed out that he's been making deals all his life and "that's why I'm worth many billions of dollars. More than $10 billion, because that's what I do. I make deals."
In addition to the Palin endorsement, Trump said he also got other key endorsements on Tuesday, including from the daughter of the late movie star John Wayne, and "a very big endorsement from Carl Icahn, who is a great businessman."
"I have many business people wanting to endorse me, and they're the best," said Trump. "But unfortunately, nobody's ever heard of any of these people. I consider them to be the most important endorsements, because when you look at what China and Japan and all of these countries are doing to us on trade, we're going to have the best people negotiate."