Jeb Bush: My brother helped keep America safe. Donald Trump: 9/11 happened on his watch.

Donald Trump accused George W. Bush of failing America on 9/11 — in an ugly exchange with Jeb Bush during Saturday night's Republican debate.

Trump started the fight with Bush, calling him out for his vague answer on the Iraq War last year.

Bush swung back hard at Trump, making it personal too: "While Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe. And I'm proud of what he did."

Trump jumped in with the harshest line: "The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign. Remember that."

Trump's argument is simple: If George W. Bush really kept America safe, as Jeb Bush claims, then why did 9/11 happen under George W. Bush's watch?

Trump's made this argument before: He told Bloomberg TV in 2015, "When you talk about George Bush, I mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time."

But this is the first time Trump has made the argument on the debate stage.

Will it play well with Republicans, who may not appreciate Trump going after a Republican president? It's hard to say. But the crowd certainly didn't appreciate it, repeatedly booing Trump for his remarks.

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via