Donald Trump needles George W. Bush, this time over Bush's support for Liz Cheney

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump has renewed his feud with fellow former President George Bush, this time over Bush's support for anti-Trump congresswoman Liz Cheney – another front in the deeply personal battle over control of the Republican Party.

Trump, who is backing a Republican opponent of Cheney in Wyoming's GOP primary next year, attacked Bush over military policy after news broke that Bush is sponsoring an Oct. 18 campaign fundraiser for Cheney in Dallas.

"Bush is the one who got us into the quicksand of the Middle East," and "the Middle East was left in worse shape after 21 years than it was when he started his stupidity," Trump said in a statement late Wednesday.

The first sentence of the statement condemned Bush's support of the "warmongering and very low polling" Cheney.

It's the latest in the political war between Trump and members of the Republican establishment as he seeks to maintain his control of the party and perhaps mount another presidential campaign in 2024. Trump has also shunned the company of former presidents as he seeks his own path to recapturing political power.

Other Republicans, including Bush, Cheney, and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, have criticized Trump for making false claims of voter fraud regarding his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden; they said his accusations incited the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

More: 'Look to the skies and remember': Former President Bush reminds Americans of unity after 9/11

More: Donald Trump endorses Wyoming lawyer Harriet Hageman in GOP primary against Liz Cheney

Bush, who made Dick Cheney his vice president and who has long supported his daughter Liz Cheney's political career, has also expressed opposition to the negative tone Trump has to public life.

During a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bush appeared to refer to Trump by saying that "so much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment."

The Texas-based former president in particular denounced the Jan. 6 insurrection by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol, as did other Republicans – including Liz Cheney, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Trump over the incident.

Trump is trying to defeat those 10 House Republicans in next year's election, and has endorsed Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman in the state's Republican primary to be held in August. (Trump has already claimed one victory in his campaign; U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, another Republican who voted to impeach Trump, has announced he will not seek re-election next year.)

Cheney meanwhile has not backed down from her criticism of Trump, and repeatedly said the Republican Party should move past its divisive ex-president.

After Trump's endorsement of her opponent, Cheney said too many Republicans have abandoned their principles "out of fear and in favor of loyalty to a former president who deliberately misled the American people about the 2020 election, provoked an attack on the U.S. Capitol, and failed to perform his duties as president as the violence ensued.”

Cheney is expected to echo these comments on the campaign trail, including the Bush-sponsored fundraiser.

In his statement attacking Bush for his support of the "warmongering and very low polling" Cheney, Trump also criticized Bush political adviser Karl Rove and former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Trump and the Bush family, pillars of the Republican establishment for decades, have been fighting for years, especially since Trump's attacks on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush during the 2016 elections.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump renews feud with George W. Bush over Liz Cheney