The American Spectator

Eminentoes

Straight Shooter

By Shawn Macomber on 12.6.06 @ 12:09AM

(Page 2 of 2)

"[Rob Lowe's] show lasted two weeks," Trump said. "He was thrown off the air like a dog. Whoopi Goldberg, thrown off the air like a dog. There's nothing nice about television business. It's very simple: you don't get rating you get cancelled. If you come up with a cure for cancer and it doesn't get ratings, they won't even broadcast it. That's how bad these frickers are."

And what did he say to the big time Hollywood agent who had begged him not to do The Apprentice when he called to congratulate Trump on hitting number one...and to ask for a $3 million commission?

Why, "You're Fired!" of course. The man next to me stood up and cheered, fist in the air. The "You're Hired!" signs were held aloft and given a vigorous shake.

AS IF TO DOVETAIL HIS POLITICAL thoughts with his television persona, Trump talked about being confronted with Sacha Baron Cohen -- he of Borat fame -- in the guise of hip-hop journalist Ali G.

"These guys were asking very prestigious politicians of the highest distinction, when they got the interview under totally false pretenses, extremely personal, obnoxious and stupid questions," Trump said. "And [the politicians] wouldn't leave. You know why? Because they didn't want to insult him. That's part of the problem with America."

Most of the last third of the speech was devoted to the importance of prenuptial agreements, his own ("If I didn't have a prenup with Ivana I'd still be in court," Trump said, doing a pitch perfect imitation of Ivana protesting, "I did not know what I was signing!") as well as Paul McCartney's lack of one ("What did she ever do? She never went on Ed Sullivan. She made him miserable for three years and now she wants $400 million"). Trump assured the crowd his current prenup was "even better" than the one he had with Ivana.

AS THE EVENING CAME to a close, Trump got about as near to sanguine as one assumes he ever does.

"Look, I'm going to kick the bucket," he said. "My kids are going to fight over my estate. They're going to say I'm an idiot whatever I do." Still, moments later he added, "I like to think of myself as victorious." When he encouraged the crowd to think similarly they banged their TRUMP wands together and roared for all they were worth, in an endorsement of a screw-the-world-I'm-rich ethos that the positive visualization crowd never really had a chance against.

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topics:
Television, Business, Books, Hollywood