Donald Trump and Todd Ricketts. Drew Angerer/Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump announced businessman Todd Ricketts, a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, as his nominee for deputy secretary of commerce on Wednesday.

But Trump hasn't always held a favorable view of the Ricketts family — one of the most powerful in Republican politics.

In fact, Trump in February accused them of having "a lot to hide" after family matriarch Marlene Ricketts contributed $3 million to an anti-Trump super PAC.

"I hear the Rickets [sic] family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $'s against me," Trump posted to Twitter. "They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!"

Asked about the accusation during an interview with The Washington Post's editorial board soon after, Trump said the family should "stop playing around."

"Look, they are spending vicious … I don't even know these people," he told The Post. "Those Ricketts. I actually said they ought to focus on the Chicago Cubs and, you know, stop playing around."

Trump said his plan for retribution would include placing negative ads against them focusing on "what a rotten job" the family was doing running the Cubs.

"I mean, they are spending on me," Trump said. "I mean, so am I allowed to say that? I'll start doing ads about their baseball team. That it's not properly run or that they haven't done a good job in the brokerage business lately."

Todd's brother Tom Ricketts responded to Trump's original tweet by saying it was "a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom."

"The fact is whether it's my mom or my dad on his Ending Spending [a super PAC founded by Joe Ricketts] stuff or my sister on marriage equality issues or my brothers and what they do or what we do with the team, we are pretty much are an open book," he said. "We stand up for what we believe in. We support the causes we think are important. That is what America should be. That is who we are."

Tom said his focus at the time was on the Cubs' breaking their more than 100-year championship drought, which they did accomplish earlier this month in defeating the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series.

Asked about what Trump meant by what the family was hiding, Tom said he had "no idea."

"Look, if we had something to hide, you guys would've found it by now, I'm sure," he said of the Chicago media. "I have no idea."

But the tide began to turn in the relationship in May, when another brother in the family, Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, endorsed Trump.

""I like him so much, I'm starting to like the Chicago Cubs again," Trump said at a campaign rally in Omaha shortly after the endorsement.

And once the general election got underway, family members took control of the Future45 super PAC, a group for which Todd reportedly helped raise $30 million. Joe and Marlene, meanwhile, donated more than $1 million to groups supporting Trump.

During a recent meeting at Trump's New Jersey golf course, Todd said he and the president-elect laughed off their personal differences, according to Politico.

"We supported other candidates in the primary, but there was never a time when we weren't going to support the Republican nominee for the general election," he said.

In his Wednesday announcement of the nomination, Trump called Todd "an immensely successful businessman with unparalleled knowledge of the finance industry."

"As deputy commerce secretary he will help us cut waste and streamline government so that it works for the people of America," he said. "The incredible job he and the Ricketts family did in the purchase and turnaround of the Chicago Cubs — one perfect step after another, leading to the world championship, is what I want representing our people. I am very proud to have him on our team."

Todd Ricketts, who will have to go through Senate confirmation for the post, could be asked in a hearing about what Trump meant when he posted that the family had "a lot to hide."

In the statement released by Trump's transition team, Ricketts said he was "honored" to be nominated for the post. He would serve under another of Trump's nominations, billionaire financier Wilbur Ross, who was tapped to run the Commerce Department.

"I am honored that President-elect Donald J. Trump has asked me to serve our country at this critical juncture in our history," Todd said. "Advancing practical policies that promote economic opportunity is critical to making America great again. I'm eager to begin this important work and serving with Wilbur Ross to implement President-elect Trump's economic agenda, which will improve the lives of all Americans."

During his recent interview with Politico, Ricketts said he was pushing for "reform" of tax laws, Obamacare, and the Dodd-Frank Act.