Donald Trump jabs back at Jeb Bush

Donald Trump on Tuesday hit back at Jeb Bush's accusation that the billionaire businessman is not a true conservative, amid an intensifying feud between the two Republican presidential candidates.

Speaking with CNN's Don Lemon, Trump responded to a new video from the Bush campaign that slammed Trump for having espoused "liberal" positions in the past, as he explained once again why he used to be a Democrat.

"In New York city, everybody was a Democrat," Trump said. "There was almost no election because the Republicans hardly existed in New York City."

Adding that former President Ronald Reagan was also once a Democrat with a "pretty liberal bend," Trump even went on to predict that plenty of Democrats would end up supporting him.

"I think I will have a lot of Democrats voting for me -- far more than any Republican for the last long period of time," he said.

Over the past few weeks, Trump and Bush have ratcheted up their attacks on one another, both on the campaign trail and on social media. Earlier this week, Trump posted a video on Instagram criticizing Bush's immigration stance.

As he leads the rest of the GOP field in national polls, Trump has billed himself as a non-career politician candidate who doesn't need help from donors and won't answer to special interests. However, the real-estate mogul lamented on Tuesday that he is — like it or not — now a politician.

"I hate the term politician as it relates to myself. I've only been a politician for three months but I guess that's what I am," he said.

Trump also offered his thoughts on news unfolding Tuesday outside of Chicago, where a police officer was shot and killed. Asked whether recent events suggest that police officers in this country are in greater danger, Trump said he sees respect for law enforcement officials eroding.

"Police are some amazing people but they're afraid to act and they're afraid do what's right," Trump said. "You see it more and more and the respect is taken away from the police and that's a very bad thing for the country and it's a very bad thing for our security and safety."