Bill Theobald

USA TODAY

Never one to let criticism go unchallenged, Donald Trump responded Saturday to former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates by terming his time in office as a “total disaster.”

Trump was reacting to Gates' Wall Street Journalop-ed Friday that was critical of both Hillary Clinton and Trump but especially harsh on Trump.

“A thin-skinned, temperamental, shoot-from-the-hip and lip, uninformed commander-in-chief is too great a risk for America,” wrote Gates, who headed the defense department under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Gates criticizes Trump for his proposal to build a wall along the southern border, for his praise of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his lack of support for NATO.

During a Saturday night rally in Colorado, Trump called Gates "an absolute clown" and "nasty guy" who "probably has a problem we don't know about."