Trump asks for prayers for Schwarzenegger, 'The Apprentice'Looks like Celebrity Apprentice: Host Feud has been renewed. The saga, which is growing into its own spin-off, premiered in early January when Donald Trump slammed Schwarzenegger for getting lower ratings for his first week at the helm of NBC's Celebrity Apprentice than he had in his most recent season. Schwarzenegger clapped back, politely telling… 2017-02-02T15:00:03.000Z

During a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, President Donald Trump bragged about the success of The Apprentice and mocked the new host, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Apprentice came up because Trump was introduced by Mark Burnett, executive producer of the show. Burnett called the series a “highly successful global television franchise.” A few minutes into Trump’s remarks, the president boasted about the reality TV show and made fun of NBC and Arnold Schwarzenegger for the show’s current ratings.

“We had tremendous success on The Apprentice, and when I ran for president, I had to leave the show,” he said. “That’s when I knew for sure I was doing it. And 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 [Burnett] will never, ever bet against Trump again.”

Trump then invited the audience to pray for Arnold Schwarzenegger and his ratings.

A spokesperson for Schwarzenegger told ABC News, “Arnold is praying that President Trump can start improving his own approval ratings, which were the worst in history for an incoming president, by taking his job seriously and working inclusively.”

Schwarzenegger responded himself on Instagram by saying that he and Trump should swap jobs.

“Hey Donald, I have a great idea,” Schwarzenegger said. “Why don’t we switch jobs? You take over TV, since you’re such an expert at ratings, and I take over your job so people can finally sleep comfortably again.”

The ratings for Celebrity Apprentice have indeed been down this season. The premiere drew 4.95 million live viewers compared to 6.31 million viewers during the premiere of the previous season, which Trump was the host of, according to Vox. Trump tweeted about this immediately after the ratings first came out in early January.

Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got "swamped" (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

Schwarzenegger responded at the time by saying that he hopes Trump works as hard for the American people as he worked for his Apprentice ratings.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll work for ALL of the American people as aggressively as you worked for your ratings. — Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 6, 2017

The National Prayer Breakfast is an annual event in Washington, D.C. in which members of Congress and faith leaders gather at the Hilton Hotel. It takes place on the first Thursday of February each year.

Trump delivered this speech amid reports that he had angered Australia by raising his voice during a call with the prime minister, complaining about a deal reached by the Obama administration to admit about 1,200 refugees from an Australian detention center, and ending the call a half-hour early. Trump said on Twitter that he will “study this dumb deal,” and at the National Prayer Breakfast, he responded to concerns that he is driving away U.S. allies.

“When you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having, don’t worry about it,” he said. “…We have to be tough.”