Trump attacked by rivals over plan to tackle illegal immigration in Republican debate
DONALD Trump has batted away fresh criticism over his plans to tackle illegal immigration if he becomes President later this year.
Donald Trump was attacked by Marco Rubio (left) and Ted Cruz (right)
Republican rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz attacked the Republican front-runner in a televised debated this morning.
Mr Rubio appeared to accuse Trump of jumping on a bandwagon, saying: "A lot of these positions that he's taken now are new to him."
Mr Cruz added: "In 2013, when I was leading the fight against the Gang of Eight bill [an immigration bill backed by Mr Rubio], where was Donald?"
I will, and the wall just got 10 feet taller
Dismissing the criticism, Mr Trump insisted he would force Mexico to pay for a 1,000-mile along the US-Mexican border.
Earlier in the day, former Mexican leader Vicente Fox hit out at the proposal, saying: "I'm not going to pay for that f****** wall."
In response, Trump said: "I will, and the wall just got 10 feet taller."
Trump (centre) wants to build a wall on the US-Mexico border
Mr Trump has scored early victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada and is well ahead in national opinion polls.
But he has some ways to go to clinch Republican nomination, which is decided by the number of delegates sent to the July party convention.
So far the outspoken billionaire leads the race with 81 delegates, with Mr Cruz and Mr Rubio well behind at 17 apiece.
He also clashed with Ted Cruz over his views on universal healthcare
Mr Cruz and Mr Trump also sparred over the mogul’s previous comments about universal healthcare.
Mr Cruz said: "For decades, Donald has been advocating socialised medicine."
Trump wrote in his 2000 book The America We Deserve that Canada's single-payer healthcare system deserved examination.
But he has since moved away from that position, telling Mr Cruz: "I do not want socialised medicine, just so you understand."