Donald Trump holds a commanding 17-point lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 35 percent to 18 percent. | AP Photo Trump back on top in national poll

Donald Trump is on top of the field in a new CBS News national poll of likely Republican primary voters released Thursday.

Trump holds a commanding 17-point lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 35 percent to 18 percent, a significant difference from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal national survey released Wednesday evening that found Cruz ahead by 2 points. Unlike that survey released Wednesday, this one included data from interviews conducted prior to the most recent debate on Saturday in South Carolina.


It’s not yet clear whether the NBC/WSJ poll was an outlier, or if Trump's support has waned after the most recent GOP debate.

Behind Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich came in a virtual tie for third, with 12 percent and 11 percent, respectively. At the bottom of the six-man field, Ben Carson took 6 percent, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush finished last with 4 percent.

Trump leads among all demographic groups, including men, women, white evangelicals, moderates and those describing themselves as somewhat conservative. Among those describing themselves as very conservative, Trump holds a 5-point lead on Cruz, within the poll’s margin of error.

Trump had bristled at reporting of the NBC/WSJ poll, tweeting a series of messages earlier Thursday morning indicating his displeasure with the media’s stories, which showed the Manhattan mogul out of the top spot for the first time in a national survey since October.

Amazing that while I lead by big numbers in the new Q and and USA Today polls, the the press only wants to report on the phony WSJ/NBC poll. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2016





The just out USA Today National Poll, where I lead by big numbers, shows that in a head to head matchup, I beat both Hillary and Bernie. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2016





Less than 30 minutes after its release, Trump bashed the poll that showed him behind as a “total joke,” though he let NBC News off the hook more lightly than its survey co-sponsor.

New CBS National Poll just out - massive lead for Trump. The Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll is a total joke. No wonder WSJ is doing so badly! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2016





The CBS News poll was conducted Feb. 12-16, and surveyed 581 Republican primary voters via landlines and cellphones with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.