Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) speaks to reporters after announcing her presidential campaign at Howard University, her alma mater, on Jan. 21, 2019 in Washington. | Al Drago/Getty Images 2020 Elections Trump on 2020 Dems: Harris had 'best opening act'

President Donald Trump on Thursday weighed in on the field of 2020 Democratic challengers, proclaiming that Sen. Kamala Harris had the best campaign rollout while continuing to needle Sen. Elizabeth Warren about her claimed Native American heritage.

"I would say the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,” Trump told the New York Times about the California Democrat. “I would say in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.”


Harris formally announced her campaign last Sunday in a raucous rally in Oakland, Calif., to a crowd of more than 20,000 people. She raised $1.5 million in the first 24 hours of entering the field.

But Trump was not as kind to other Democrats, saying that others were "very flat," without naming names.

The president has long needled Warren over her past identification as Native American, using the derogatory term "Pocahontas" to refer to the Massachusetts Democrat. Before the midterm elections, Warren released the results of a DNA test to support her claims, a move that was criticized by some Native American leaders.

COUNTDOWN TO 2020 The race for 2020 starts now. Stay in the know. Follow our presidential election coverage. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

"I do think Elizabeth Warren’s been hurt very badly with the Pocahontas trap,” Trump said. “I think she’s been hurt badly. I may be wrong, but I think that was a big part of her credibility and now all of a sudden it’s gone.”

Warren is expected to officially announce her candidacy Feb. 9, after forming a presidential exploratory committee a month ago.

Trump also said he will be running for a second term, on the day his reelection campaign announced it had $23 million in cash on hand at the end of 2018. He also dismissed the notion of a GOP primary challenger, concluding he has "great support in the party."

"I love this job," he said.