UPDATE: Newt defends Trump from Paul

After a nearly hour-long meeting at Trump Tower, Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich emerged for a joint news conference, during which the former House speaker defended The Donald from slams from Ron Paul that Trump moderating a debate would create a "circus" atmosphere.

"I'm actually very surprised that one of my friends would have said that," Gingrich said, noting that an actor who appeared with a chimp (Ronald Reagan) became president, as well as a former preanut farmer. "This is a country of enormously wide-open talent. You know, Donald Trump is a great showman. He's also a great businessman. ... I think that we have to be open to new ways of doing things and new ways of approaching things."


He added, "I thought it was great when he agreed to do it. ... It's part of the process by which Americans (choose)."

Gingrich said he got Trump to agree to create a system of, as he put it, "Apprenti," where 10 New York City school kids in the poorer schools can apply for an apprenticeship of some kind. The obvious branding aside, it's not immediately clear that the New York City Department of Education will be interested.

Asked why he was taking time to meet with Trump, Gingrich said, "Why wouldn't you? ... I want to pick up on something Herman Cain said a while back. Sometimes, we have to get a certain sense of humor in politics. ... He is a genuine American icon in his own right."

Besides, he added, "I like being in New York City at Christmas."

Gingrich, who got criticized for sounding a bit confident when he predicted last week, "I'm going to be the nominee," struck a more humble tone when asked the same question today, saying it will be up to the American people to decide.

UPDATE: A senior Paul campaign source emails to push back, and hard: "We agree, of course, with former Speaker Gingrich — this is a country of people of enormous talent. Those who deliver thousands of babies like Dr. Paul and those who spend their time focusing on promoting themselves for profit. We even have those who lobby, but don't call it such because, as they say, they can make $60,000 per speech. While those of us in the Paul camp might disagree with Newt Gingrich about whether Donald Trump is the right man to host a serious political debate, we do agree New York is a wonderful place to go at Christmas. We are sure two average Americans like Speaker Gingrich and Donald Trump will have a wonderful time picking out gifts for their wives. We suggest a place called Tiffany's, we her it is quite nice this time of year and given their celebrity status they can probably get special deals and $500,000 lines of credit."