President Breaks Twitter Armistice, Chides 'Liddle' Bob Corker; Senator Fires Back

WASHINGTON, DC — The apparent Twitter armistice between President Donald Trump and Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, once one of his key Capitol Hill allies, ended Tuesday just hours ahead of a crucial lunch between the president and lawmakers designed to shepherd along Trump's tax plan.

Appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," Corker — who announced earlier this month that he won't run for a third term in 2018 — said he would like the president to leave the restructuring of the tax code "to the professionals for a little while."

(For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

Watch: Trump and Corker lob insults ahead of president's critical meeting

Angered, the president took to his favorite social media platform with a five-tweet rebuke stretching over a two-hour span. He blamed Corker for his role in the Iran nuclear arms deal, saying that the two-term Senator and former Chattanooga mayor "couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee."

Tennessee does not have elected animal-control officers, though the county-level elected office of ranger with the duty to "round up stray cattle" existed in the state's constitution until 1978.

Trump went on to claim "Corker dropped out of the race in Tennesse [sic] when I refused to endorse him," and referred to Corker as a "lightweight," "incompetent" and "liddle'" [sic], the latter an apparent reference to Corker's height of 5-feet-7-inches, an insult the president used previously when he claimed that Corker was duped by the New York Times during an interview in which the senator said the president was leading the country to another world war.

Corker's one-tweet riposte to the president also echoed an earlier tweet.

"Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #AlertTheDaycareStaff," Corker tweeted.

During a previous Twitter spat, Corker likened the White House to "an adult day care center." It was that spat that prompted behind-the-scenes calls from top Republicans for a cease-fire between the former allies, a call that was heeded for a little more than two weeks.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File