Schwarzenegger jokes that he wanted to "smash" Trump's "face into a table"

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the host of “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” said in a new interview that he wanted to smash President Trump’s face into a table.

Schwarzenegger, a former California governor, is profiled in the upcoming issue of Men’s Journal and talks about how he got his current gig.

“I’d never done a reality TV show and thought it would be interesting,” he told the magazine. “When Trump started running for office, I said to myself, ‘Obviously he can’t do both.’”

Before the show started, Schwarzenegger said he wouldn’t vote for Mr. Trump. The president remembered and later criticized Schwarzenegger for lower show ratings and his job as governor.

The Men’s Journal article says Schwarzenegger weighed his options on how to respond.

Here’s how the magazine reports his train of thought:

“I called my assistant and said, ‘I think what we really should do is request a meeting and go back to New York.’ ” He pauses for maximum impact. “And then we just smash his face into the table.”

Schwarzenegger’s laugh fills the cafe like a small nuclear explosion. He rubs his massive hands together. “And then I think we can’t do that, either. I think I have to be above all of that and put him on the spot.” He wound up tweeting a reply: “There’s nothing more important than the people’s work. 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.” 

At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington last week, Mr. Trump bragged about his TV ratings as the show’s host and told the audience to “pray” for Schwarzenegger.

“They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place,” said Mr. Trump, who still has an executive producer credit on the “Celebrity Apprentice.” “And we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes.”

Schwarzenegger then released a video last week on social media asking,“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 comfortable again.”