Politics"First of all, Rand Paul shouldn't even be on the debate stage," Trump said in response to an unrelated question about his temperament in one of the first exchanges of the night.
"He's No. 11. He's got 1% in the polls. And how he got up here, there's far too many people anyway. And we all know that. As far as temperament, I think I have a great temperament," Trump continued.
From the opening bell Wednesday night, the second official Republican presidential debate between the major candidates was a nasty, insult-filled affair.
CNN moderators constantly urged the various White House hopefuls to respond to the mean and insulting things they've previously said about one another.
That included past trash-talk about each other's spouses, business records, physical appearance, policy issues, and more. Much of this centered on the real-estate mogul Trump, the brash Republican front-runner.
Needless to say, the candidates obliged.
Trump started things off by questioning the right of Paul to even be on the 11-person stage. Paul responded by saying Trump's attack didn't have anything to do with the matter at hand. And he was one of the only candidates to say he was "concerned" about having Trump in charge of the country's nuclear arsenal because of his penchant to overreact to criticism.
He alluded to Trump's recent mocking of presidential rival Carly Fiorina's appearance.
"I kind of have to laugh," Paul said. "I'm very concerned about having him in charge of the nuclear weapons because I think his visceral response to attack people on their appearance - short, tall, fat, ugly - my goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not way above that? Would we not all be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal?"
Trump responded by delivering a burn against Paul's own looks: "I never attacked him on his looks and believe me: There is plenty of subject matter right there."
AP Photo/Chris Carlson The Republican candidates at the CNN debate.
But the fireworks didn't end there. In fact, they were only beginning.
Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) shared many notable exchanges, including shortly after the real-estate developer's tiff with Paul. CNN asked Bush to respond to Trump's claim that the former governor is beholden to the special-interest donors who have funneled millions of dollars into his super PAC.
"The one guy that had some special interest that I know of - that tried to get me my views on something, that was generous and gave me money - was Donald Trump. He wanted casino gambling in Florida," Bush said.
The two continued to interrupt each other as Trump insisted he never tried to use his money to win over Bush.
"I promise, if I wanted it, I would have gotten it," Trump responded.
Trump, who frequently bashes Bush for being a "low-energy" candidate, ended the exchange with a zinger.
"More energy tonight, I like that!" Trump said.
Later, the two tussled over Trump's suggestion that Bush's wife's Mexican ancestry likely pushed Bush to be more sympathetic to Mexican immigrants who cross into the US illegally.
"To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous political conversation was completely inappropriate. And I hope that you apologize for that, Donald," Bush declared.
Trump, unsurprisingly, declined to apologize and blasted Bush for being "weak" on immigration. As an aside, he also tossed in a jab at Bush's position on Common Core educational standards.
Bush later said Trump's foreign-policy approach was "dangerous" while Trump sniped at the record of Bush's brother, former President George W. Bush.
"Your brother gave us Barack Obama," Trump declared.
Bush responded with an answer that brought loud applause from the crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: "He kept us safe."
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Carly Fiorina.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, whose slight surge in the polls lifted her into the prime-time stage, also got into the mix Wednesday night.
She and Trump battled over their respective business records and controversial comments that Trump made about her face. Trump later claimed he was referring to Fiorina's "persona" and not her looks, though Fiorina was clearly unconvinced.
"I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said," she said.
The crowd applauded raucously.
Trump responded by saying: "I think she's got a beautiful face and I think she's a beautiful woman."
With the general exception of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the soft-spoken No. 2. candidate in the polls, the rest of the candidates often tangled with one another at various points.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Fiorina went after each other's records. Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) attacked each other's positions on Iran. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and Bush aggressively debated how the government should handle the anti-same-sex marriage Kentucky clerk.
Trump later took another shot at Paul's standing in the polls. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Trump had a foreign-policy back-and-forth. All of the candidates argued about whether congressional Republicans should de-fund the family planning and women's health organization Planned Parenthood, even if it leads to a government shutdown.
And so on.