File-This Oct. 9, 2018, file photo shows Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mitt Romney answering a question about tariffs during the debate with Democratic opponent Jenny Wilson in the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah. Utah Sen.-elect Romney says President Donald Trump's "conduct over the past two years ... is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office." Romney, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, is praising some of Trump's policy decisions in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. But he adds: "With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring."(James M. Dobson/The Spectrum via AP, File)

File-This Oct. 9, 2018, file photo shows Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mitt Romney answering a question about tariffs during the debate with Democratic opponent Jenny Wilson in the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah. Utah Sen.-elect Romney says President Donald Trump's "conduct over the past two years ... is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office." Romney, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, is praising some of Trump's policy decisions in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. But he adds: "With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring."(James M. Dobson/The Spectrum via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and incoming Utah senator, has quickly set himself apart from other Republicans in the new Congress with a blistering attack on President Donald Trump’s leadership and character.

Romney put to rest expectations that he would take his time getting his footing in Washington. Instead, in a Washington Post column published two days before Romney was sworn into office, he said Trump’s “conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.”

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Trump, in a Twitter response, said he hoped Romney wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who often criticized Trump and paid the price, opting to retire rather than risk defeat in a GOP primary in 2018.

“Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful,” Trump tweeted. “I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!”

Romney’s remarks prompted swift backlash from allies of the president in the Republican Party — including his own niece, Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.

McDaniel retweeted Trump’s remarks about Romney and added that the president is constantly “attacked and obstructed” by the media and Democrats.

“For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack” Trump @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive,” McDaniel tweeted.

GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said the 2020 election hopes of many Republicans in the Senate and House will be tied to Trump. He said that the criticisms were bad for the Republican Party and made it harder to get things done in the Senate.

“I don’t think the president deserves a new senator coming in attacking his character,” Paul said.

Romney will be sworn in as a senator on Thursday.

By taking on Trump so early in his Senate career, Romney could be picking up where Flake and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., another retiring senator, left off.

Their retirements left some wondering whether any other Republicans would be willing to publicly criticize the president. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., noted that almost half the Senate Republicans are up for re-election in 2020 and some may feel the need to push back against Trump.

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“They just saw what happened in 2018,” Durbin said, referring to Republicans losing the House majority in November. “I think, once they do polling back home, not all of them but many of them will find that independence is being rewarded.”

Romney has had his public run-ins with the president before and tried to prevent him from winning the GOP nomination in 2016. In one speech, Romney said there was plenty of evidence that Trump was “a con man, a fake.” In that same speech, he said, “Dishonesty is Donald Trump’s hallmark.”

But after the presidential election, Romney eased off the criticism and interviewed to become Trump’s secretary of state. Trump picked former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who lasted about 14 months before Trump fired him.

During his Senate campaign, Romney insisted that he would agree with Trump on some issues and not be shy about disagreeing with him on others. Romney appears to have more room with GOP voters in Utah to take on the president. More than half the voters in the state, 64 percent, would like to see Romney confront the president, according to data from AP VoteCast, a survey of midterm voters.

Romney, in his opinion column, credited Trump for cutting corporate taxes, stripping out what he described as excessive regulation and appointing conservative judges. But he said policies and appointments are only part of being a president.

A president, Romney wrote, must also demonstrate honesty and integrity and elevate the national discourse.

“With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring,” Romney wrote.

Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that he was surprised by Romney’s comments. “People are very upset with what he did,” Trump said. He also referenced Romney’s 2012 election loss to President Barack Obama.

“If he fought the way he fights me, I’m telling you, he would have won the election,” Trump said.

Romney later told CNN that there “are places where we agree on a whole series of policy fronts, but there are places that I think the president can, if you will, elevate his game and do a better job to help bring us together as a nation.”

Asked if we would endorse Trump for president in 2020, Romney said, “I’m going to wait and see what the alternatives are.”

Romney ruled out another run himself: “You may have heard, I ran before,” he said.

Some Trump critics within the GOP are hopeful that Romney’s comments are a sign of more to come from Republicans. Conservative commentator Bill Kristol tweeted that Romney’s words confirmed that “Trump’s dominance over the GOP, pretty complete until now, can no longer be taken for granted.”

“For now at least Mitt Romney has become the leader of the Republican Resistance to Trump,” Kristol said.

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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

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Follow Kevin Freking on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APKFreking