Trump on Cruz birther issue: 'Ted has to get this problem resolved'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz needs to resolve questions about his eligibility to be president ahead of a possible showdown with Democrats.

During an interview for Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Trump discussed the possibility that if Cruz wins the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election, Democrats will file a lawsuit questioning Cruz's constitutional legitimacy to become commander-in-chief.

"What I told Ted to do is to go into court for declaratory judgment," Trump said, referring to a tweet where he suggested that Cruz preempt Democrats -- urging him to "go to court now & seek Declaratory Judgement -- you will win!"

"People say you're trolling him and you're, under the guise of helping him, you're sticking him a knife," Wallace told Trump.

"What he should do is ask for declaratory judgment... You know what, I think I'm going to win. I don't want to beat him this way. I'm just saying, in my opinion, and you've already seen it, the Democrats are going to bring the lawsuit," Trump told Wallace. "If it's Ted, the Democrats are going to bring the lawsuit. He's got to have this thing worked out.

"Honestly. Do you have any doubts that Ted Cruz is a natural-born American?" Wallace asks Trump.

"I don't know. I really don't know. It depends. Does natural born mean 'born to the land?' Meaning born on the land? In that case, he's not -- but nobody knows what it means and it hasn't been adjudicated and it hasn't gone to the Supreme Court," Trump continued. "I'm only saying Ted has to get this problem resolved because if he's running against a Democrat and they bring a lawsuit, he's got a hell of a thing over his head."

It was a very wise move that Ted Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship 18 months ago. Senator John McCain is certainly no friend of Ted!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2016

In response to questions surrounding his citizenship, Cruz on Friday released a copy of his mother's birth certificate to prove she was born in the United States. Cruz was born in Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. His father was a Cuban citizen at the time of his birth. He has argued that as a child of a U.S. citizen born abroad he is a "natural born" citizen of the United States.