President Trump pushed back Friday at former House Speaker Paul Ryan, calling him a “baby” whose only political success came because of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

“He was a baby,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “He didn’t know what the hell he was doing.”

Mr. Ryan is quoted in a new book, “American Carnage” by Tim Alberta, as saying he often wanted to “scold” the president because Mr. Trump “didn’t know anything about government.”

Asked about those comments, the president said, “For him to be going out and opening his mouth is pretty incredible. The only success Paul Ryan had was the time that he was with me.”

The president also tweeted that Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin was a “lame duck failure” who lost the Republican House majority because of “poor leadership and bad timing.”

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