- Donald Trump apologized to Ted Cruz in 2016 for deeply personal insults, a book says.
- Trump and Cruz fought an ill-tempered battle for the 2016 GOP nomination, which Trump won.
Donald Trump apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz after for insulting him and his family during his 2016 presidential campaign, a new book by Paul Manafort says says.
Manafort, Trump's disgraced former campaign manager, described the exchange in extracts of a forthcoming book obtained by the Guardian.
He wrote that Trump issued the apology in a face-to-face meeting with before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in July 2016, just before the Cruz delivered a speech.
During the ill-tempered 2016 primary campaign, Trump called Cruz's wife "ugly", baselessly claimed Cruz's father was involved in a plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, and taunted him with the moniker "Lyin' Ted Cruz."
According to the book, "on his own initiative, Trump did apologize for saying some of the things he said about Cruz, which was unusual for Trump."
Trump told Cruz, who came second in the primaries, "he considered him an ally, not an enemy, and that he believed they could work together when Trump was president," according to Manafort's book.
The full book, called "Political Prisoner: Persecuted, Prosecuted, but Not Silenced," is scheduled for release in September.
The claim is notable as Trump routinely insults and smears his political opponents and rarely takes it back.
By apologizing, Trump had hoped to to secure Cruz's support for his candidacy, the book says.
It did not immediately work, as Cruz did not endorse Trump in his speech.
Per the book, Trump said "This is bullshit" as Cruz spoke, and walked to the back of the convention hall, "effectively pulling the attention away from Cruz and undercutting his speech."
The two later mended their their relationship, and Cruz became one of Trump's most ardent Senate allies.
Manafort's book contradicts Cruz's claim in an interview with the Texas Tribune in September 2016 that Trump had not apologized for the insults.
In that interview he said he decided to put it behind him anyway and endorse Trump after consulting with his wife and father.
In 2018 Manafort was convicted with financial crimes, in charges stemming from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump granted him a pardon during the final weeks of his presidency in 2020.