The announcement of an aggressive ad campaign against Trump drew his ire Thursday. | Getty Trump explodes after pro-Kasich group unveils anti-Trump campaign

Donald Trump went on a Twitter rampage late Thursday after POLITICO revealed that a GOP group was planning to spend at least $2.5 million on an ad campaign aggressively targeting the real estate mogul, whose four-month stint atop the Republican primary polls has alarmed many in the party establishment.

In a series of 12 tweets, Trump attacked Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whose allies are behind the effort to take down the billionaire candidate and shared their plans exclusively with POLITICO:

Advertisement Governor Kasich, whose failed campaign & debating skills have brought him way down in the polls, is going to spend $2.5 million against me. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

John Kasich should focus his special interest money on building up his failed image, not negative ads on me. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

John Kasich, despite being Governor of Ohio, is losing to me in the Ohio polls. Pathetic! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

I want to do negative ads on John Kasich, but he is so irrelevant to the race that I don’t want to waste my money. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

Watch Kasich squirm --- if he is not truthful in his negative ads I will sue him just for fun! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

Kasich has already spent $6 million on ads in New Hampshire and his numbers have gone down. People from NH are smart! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

I loved beating John Kasich in the debates, but it was easy—he came in dead last! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

John Kasich ad guy wanted to work for me, but his proposal was a rip off – I said NO! Now ripping Kasich. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

Doesn’t help Kasich to do negative ads on me because he still has to go through everyone else - he’s almost last. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

John Kasich fell right into President Obama’s trap on ObamaCare, and the people of Ohio are suffering for it. Shame! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

Once John Kasich announced he was running for president, and opened his mouth, people realized he was a complete & total dud! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

John Kasich was managing director of Lehman Brothers when it crashed, bringing down the world and ruining people's lives. A total failure! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

Rob Nichols, a spokesman for Kasich, responded, "This is hilarious to watch. No one loses it that bad unless, for some reason, they're feeling very insecure."

And later in the evening, Kasich uncorked a tweetstorm of his own, hitting Trump on a range of foreign-policy issues and tying him to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton:

.@realDonaldTrump thinks @hillaryclinton would be terrific negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. Huh? https://t.co/5uj3zIcd21 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

.@WolfBlitzer: “Who is best qualified to make Iran deal?” .@RealDonaldTrump: “I think Hillary would do a good job” 9/24/07 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

.@realDonaldTrump thinks fighting OBL in Afghanistan was a mistake, oh wait, he flip-flopped…https://t.co/H3ERG0J006 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

Trump: “We made a terrible mistake getting involved there…” 10/6 “I’ve never said we made a mistake going into Afghanistan” @CNN 10/20 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

The pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine mayor of Yalta loves the fact that @realDonaldTrump hates Ukraine so much. https://t.co/PaEGjqhFnq — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

Pro-Russian Crimean separatist mayor of Yalta praising .@RealDonaldTrump “…we like you as an extraordinary person.” @washingtonpost 10/8/15 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

.@realDonaldTrump wants to make Ukraine a slave to Russia again. No way. https://t.co/7TrsRM81Kb — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

.@realDonaldTrump likes Putin in Syria, where he threatens Turkey, Israel and the E. Medit. #amateur https://t.co/8zMBScS2K9 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015

.@realdonaldtrump thinks Ukraine should stay out of NATO. DT❤️VP https://t.co/vYjzYtwDu0 — John Kasich (@JohnKasich) November 20, 2015



