For some time now, President Trump has somehow resisted the impulse to open up his Twitter account and take potshots at "Saturday Night Live," the NBC late-night comedy series on which he is frequently lampooned. (He has nonetheless found other online nemeses.)

But on Friday morning, Mr. Trump's wellspring of reserve was at last depleted, as he was lured into an electronic war of words with Alec Baldwin, the actor who has portrayed him on "S.N.L." since the fall of 2016, saying it was "agony for those who have been forced to watch."

This was in response to Mr. Baldwin's first salvo in this exchange, in an interview published Thursday by The Hollywood Reporter. Asked how much longer he could continue playing the president, Mr. Baldwin answered: "Every time I do it now, it's like agony. Agony. I can't."

Mr. Baldwin added: "I could go out on the street, stand on any corner and tap 10 people on the shoulder. And all 10 of them, in all likelihood, would be more qualified — ethically, morally, intellectually and spiritually — than Trump. I'll vote for Mitt Romney. I don't care. Anybody over this guy. It doesn't matter. We have to get rid of him."

Over the years, Mr. Trump has had a love-hate relationship with "Saturday Night Live," where he has also been portrayed by cast members like Darrell Hammond and Taran Killam, and where he has appeared as a guest host.

But during his presidential candidacy and after he won the 2016 presidential election, Mr. Trump visibly soured on the show, writing on Twitter, for example, that it was doing a "hit job" on him, calling it a "boring and unfunny show," and saying that Mr. Baldwin's portrayal of him "stinks."

He also criticized the show and one of its writers, Katie Rich, after Ms. Rich tweeted a joke about Mr. Trump's son Barron in January 2017. Ms. Rich was suspended from "S.N.L." after the incident.

Mr. Trump had refrained from remarking on the show on Twitter for many months. But on Friday morning, Mr. Baldwin's remarks were highlighted on Fox News and Mr. Trump weighed in soon after.

In a Twitter post on Friday morning, Mr. Trump wrote:

(An earlier version of the post in which Mr. Trump misspelled Mr. Baldwin's name as "Alex" was deleted.)

Mr. Baldwin, rarely one to back down from a feud, replied in a Twitter post of his own:

In another post, Mr. Baldwin mused about the idea of a Trump presidential library:

Then he posted:

A press representative for NBC declined to comment on Friday morning.

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times, March 2, 2018

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March 2, 2018