Updated at 3:53 p.m. ET

Rep. Ron Paul hit back at Donald Trump today, blasting the real estate developer for saying last week that he couldn't get elected president.

Paul, appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, defended himself and noted that he's been elected 11 times to Congress to represent his South Texas district.

"I was elected 11 times, and somebody said, 'How many times has Donald Trump been elected?' " Paul said. "Does he really have the right to go and criticize others?"

Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference last week that Paul, a libertarian-thinking Republican, had "zero chance" of getting elected president. Trump's comment drew loud boos from the audience, and Paul went on to win CPAC's presidential straw poll for the second year in a row.

Trump said he will decide by June whether he'll seek the White House. In a telephone interview with CNN a few minutes ago, Trump said one of his first acts as president if he were elected would be to impose a 25% tax on imported Chinese products. Why? He said the Chinese have "manipulated their currency."

Paul is thinking about running again for the White House, after drawing an ardent following in 2008 with his views on small government and his adherence to the Constitution. He was also the 1988 Libertarian Party candidate for president.

Paul did acknowledge on MSNBC that it would be "very, very difficult" to beat President Obama should he win the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

The Texas congressman called Obama a "warmonger" for sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.