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The Apprentice

Donald Trump went to a prayer meeting and used it to attack Arnold Schwarzenegger's ratings

Schwarzenegger later responded to the US President.

CNN / YouTube

MOVIE STAR AND former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested he and President Donald trump swap jobs after the US President again attacked Schwarzenegger’s ratings on The Apprentice.

Trump’s latest dig at his fellow Republican came as the president made his first appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast. He was introduced at the event by The Apprentice’s producer Mark Burnett.

“When I ran for president, I had to leave the show,” Trump told the more than 2,000 people attending the breakfast at a Washington hotel.

They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place. And we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes.

“It’s been a total disaster, and Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again,” the president said.

“I want to just pray for Arnold if we can,” Trump said.

(Click here to watch video)

Austrian-born Schwarzenegger, who many had speculated had presidential ambitions of his own, was a vocal critic of Trump’s candidacy.

Responding to Trump’s latest dig, Schwarzenegger released a video message to Trump saying he had “a great idea”

Why don’t we switch jobs? You take over TV because you’re such an expert in ratings. And I take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again. Hmm?

Schwarzenegger’s audience for his early January debut as host on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice host was a disappointing 5 million viewers, according to the Nielsen company.

The season-to-date average for the first month was 4.7 million viewers, compared to 7.6 million viewers for Trump’s final season in winter 2015.

The broadcaster hired Schwarzenegger after NBC severed ties with Trump in August 2015 following his comments about Mexican immigrants.

Financial disclosures Trump filed during the campaign show his company, Trump Productions, earned about $5.9 million from The Apprentice shows in 2015.

- With reporting by The Associated Press

Read: Hundreds brave wind and rain for anti-Trump protest in Dublin >

Read: ‘You’re not wanted here!’ Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad is all about immigration >

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