The Donald vs. The Terminator: Trump slams Schwarzenegger's Apprentice ratings

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the latest victim of a Donald Trump Twitter attack.

The U.S. president-elect took time Friday to note that the Terminatorstar was "swamped" in his Celebrity Apprenticedebut "by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT."

"So much for being a movie star," Trump tweeted, continuing: "But who cares, he supported Kasich and Hillary."

Schwarzenegger tweeted back, urging Trump to work as hard for the American people as he did for his ratings.

Reality check

Trump is right about the ratings, using the comparison he set up. His Jan. 4, 2004 debut on the reality show drew 18.49 million viewers, and Schwarzenegger's Monday bow as host was seen by 4.95 million. That's a 73 per cent drop, according to the Nielsen company.

Two things are important to note: television shows almost always fade in popularity with time, and live viewership in general is down in an on-demand world.

The first episode of Trump's most recent season on Celebrity Apprenticein 2015 was seen by 6.81 million, down 63 per cent from his own debut 11 years earlier, Nielsen said. For all television shows, viewership this season is off 23 per cent from the 2003-04 season.

Schwarzenegger, the Republican former California governor, did indeed endorse Ohio Gov. John Kasich as Republican presidential nominee. In October, he said he would not be voting for Trump, urging Republicans to vote country over party.

But he did not endorse Clinton or publicly say who he was voting for.

From a political standpoint, Trump's tweak of Schwarzenegger was understandable. Business-wise, it's less so.

• 'Quite an entanglement': Donald Trump and his potential conflicts of interest
• Donald Trump remains executive producer of Celebrity Apprentice
• Questions raised about Trump's continued role in Celebrity Apprentice
• New Apprentice boss Schwarzenegger OK with Donald Trump as producer

Trump is still listed as an executive producer of Celebrity Apprenticeand retains a financial stake in the NBC program. So he has an interest in seeing Schwarzenegger succeed, not fail.