In the interview Sunday, Mr. Trump also made clear he was skeptical about any deal that trades wall money for a wider immigration overhaul.

“I doubt it,” he said, when asked if he would agree to citizenship for a group of immigrants illegally brought to the U.S. as children, known as Dreamers, in exchange for border-wall funding…

Commentator Ann Coulter, for example, described Mr. Trump as a “wimp.”

“I hear she’s become very hostile,” Mr. Trump said in the interview. “Maybe I didn’t return her phone call or something.”