Story highlights Donald Trump says he would relish the competition of a Michael Bloomberg independent 2016 run

Bernie Sanders said a matchu-p with Trump and Bloomberg would pit him against 'oligarchy'

(CNN) Donald Trump has a message for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is considering an independent run for president: Bring it on.

"Or Bloomberg comes in which would be great, I'd love to have him come in because I love the competition frankly. I mean it would be great if Bloomberg, I'd love Bloomberg to come in," Trump told an audience at a rally in Muscatine, Iowa, on Sunday.

On Saturday, the New York Times first reported that Bloomberg is eyeing a run -- particularly if Trump is the Republican nominee and Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic contest.

"Michael has been a friend of mine. I would love to have Michael Bloomberg run. I would love that competition," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think I'd do very well against it."

Sanders, meanwhile, said on ABC's "This Week" that he's "confident that we will win" if he's in a three-way race against Trump and Bloomberg -- in part because both are extraordinarily wealthy.

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