Donald Trump is not getting the apology he wanted from the Wall Street Journal's editorial page.
Thursday morning, he asked on Twitter, "When and how are the dummies at the @WSJ going to apologize to me for their totally incorrect Editorial on me."
Thursday night, the Journal responded with an editorial sardonically titled "Donald Trump Is Upset."
"Being attacked by Donald Trump is one of journalism's more exhilarating experiences," the editorial board wrote. "We got the treatment on Thursday when he took to various TV shows and Twitter with his usual soft sell and demanded corrections, apologies and resignations after our editorial reference to his trade policy. We haven't had this much fun since Eliot Spitzer left office."
The back and forth was triggered by Tuesday's GOP debate on Fox Business Network, which is a Rupert Murdoch property like the Journal.
On Wednesday the Journal's editorial board concluded that "it wasn't obvious that" Trump "has any idea what's in" the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
At the debate, Trump had called the TPP deal "horrible" and said "it's a deal that was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone."
Rand Paul later interjected to point out that China is not a part of the deal.
"Many of Mr. Trump's supporters care more about his take-charge attitude than his policies, but GOP voters will have to decide if they want to nominate their most protectionist nominee since Hoover," the editorial added.
Trump was incensed.
In a series of tweets he called for an apology and called the newspaper "failing."
On "Fox & Friends," the morning show on the Murdoch-owned Fox News, Trump said "they aren't a respected paper too much anymore."
On Thursday night the Journal's editorial board said it stood by its comments.
"Our editorial point was what everyone who understands East Asian security knows, which is that China would be delighted to see TPP fail," the Journal wrote Thursday. "China is putting together its own Asian trade bloc, and those rules will be written to its advantage. TPP sets a standard for trade under freer Western rules. China could seek to join TPP in the future, but it would have to do so on TPP's terms, not vice versa."
Now the ball (or the tweet) is in Trump's court.
Business Insider noted that Trump previously warned that he'd come after the Journal, in a tweet last month, when he said the newspaper "loves to write badly about me. They better be careful or I will unleash big time on them. Look forward to it!"
