Donald Trump threatens to target Ricketts family in ads

Donald Trump has taken another swipe at the Ricketts family.

Last month, the Republican presidential candidate accused the family, which owns the Cubs, of spending money on initiatives to torpedo his campaign. On Feb. 22, he tweeted, ‘‘They better be careful.’’

On Monday, Trump told the Washington Post editorial board what he meant by the tweet.

‘‘Well, it means that I’ll start spending on them,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ll start taking ads telling them all what a rotten job they’re doing with the Chicago Cubs.

‘‘I mean, they are spending on me. I mean, so am I allowed to say that? I’ll start doing ads about their baseball team. That it’s not properly run or that they haven’t done a good job in the brokerage business lately.’’

Trump said the Ricketts family is ‘‘spending vicious.’’

‘‘I don’t even know these people, those Ricketts,’’ he said.

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts’ father, Joe, the founder of TD Ameritrade, has spent his wealth on efforts to curtail government spending. Joe doesn’t have an active role with the Cubs.

In January, Joe’s wife, Marlene, contributed $3 million to Our Principles, an anti-Trump political-action committee, federal campaign reports showed.