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Donald Trump struck back at 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney Thursday, blasting the former Massachusetts governor for "begging" for his endorsement four years ago only to sharply criticize him now. "I don't know what happened to him," Trump said during a rally in Portland, Maine. "You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees.' He would have dropped to his knees." "Mitt is indeed a choke artist," Trump said. "He choked like I've never seen anyone choke. Other than Rubio." Trump also said that his net...

Mitt Romney will give a speech on the state of the 2016 presidential race on Thursday, his office said. Romney is scheduled to address the Hinckley Institute of Politics Forum at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday morning, according to an advisory sent to reporters. Utah holds its Republican caucuses on March 22, a day after the last scheduled debate in Salt Lake City announced last month. Romney has been outspoken in denouncing frontrunner Donald Trump, calling on him to release his tax returns and questioning his fitness to be commander in chief.

<p>Mitt Romney is expected to speak out about the Republican presidential race.</p> <p>The 2012 GOP presidential nominee announced plans to deliver speech about the 2016 race on Thursday at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.</p> <p>Romney has been critical of 2016 front-runner Donald Trump on Twitter in recent weeks and has yet to endorse any of the candidates.</p>

In order to defeat Donald Trump, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol admits he is prepared to hand Hillary Clinton the Oval Office. On Wednesday’s “Morning Joe,” the Republican Establishment leader laid out his plot to deprive Trump of the 50% of delegates necessary to secure the nomination. From there, the idea is to go into a brokered convention and cut a kamikaze deal that awards enough delegates to an “acceptable” candidate (who will have won far fewer votes, states, and delegates than Trump). The problem with the Establishment brokering a behind-closed-door deal that hands the nomination to a Sen. Marco...

The stakes in 2016 are huge and the party is fractured. The rhetoric reflects a Trump Derangement Syndrome in which Trump is either a monster or a savior, instead of a politician. On the left, Bush Derangement Syndrome expressed itself in the conviction that he was unalterably and uniquely worse than every other president and would get around to declaring martial law and ruling forever. The danger of exaggeration is that previously unacceptable views suddenly become acceptable. Bush Derangement Syndrome made it acceptable for Democrats to descend into open treason by making common cause with Saddam Hussein, the Sunni terrorist...

One of the interesting assumptions infecting this election season is that a self-funded wealthy candidate is less likely to make corrupt deals. If a candidate doesn't solicit money from the public (which, by the way, every candidate for president does), so the story goes, he won't be beholden to do favors. But what if a candidate had a ready reserve of millions? Could that candidate buy off media outlets, public figures and educational institutions? Answer: probably, if he knows how to do the deal. Expenditures on behalf of a campaign, of course, must be reported to the Federal Election Commission....

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The story here at TheHill.com: "Trump: I'll work with Democrats." I saw that headline, I said, "Now, wait just a minute. What's this?" So I read the story. "Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is stressing his bona fides as a dealmaker who'd be able to enter the White House and work with congressional Democrats to hammer out agreements. 'I think I'm going to be able to get along with Pelosi -- I've always had a good relationship with Nancy Pelosi,' Trump said Tuesday on MSNBC. ... 'Reid's going to be gone. I've always had a decent relationship...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump used a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC to tout the fact that, as president, he would work with Democratic leaders in Congress to get things done. He specifically talked about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and asserted he was "close" to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is expected to replace outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) "I've always had a good relationship with Nancy Pelosi. I've never had a problem. Reid will be gone," Trump said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Tuesday. He continued: "I always had a decent relationship with Reid, although lately, obviously,...