Washington, Sep 25 (IANS): US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday thanked Senator Ted Cruz, his main rival in his party's primaries, for the "wonderful surprise" of his support.

"The @SenTedCruz endorsement was a wonderful surprise. I greatly appreciate his support! We will have a tremendous victory on November 8th," the New York magnate posted on his Twitter account.

Cruz made the surprise announcement on Friday that he intends to cast his vote for Donald Trump after refusing to lend him his support until now, not even when he spoke from the podium at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July after the multimillionaire had landed the Republican candidacy, EFE news reported.

"After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on election day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump," the Texas senator announced on Facebook on Friday.

Cruz's support is important for the magnate because the senator has a solid base of ultra-conservatives who instinctively distrust a presidential candidate in his third marriage and who in the past has been fairly ambiguous about where he stands on abortion.