Donald Trump and Paul Ryan

I watch Celebrity Apprentice.

I don't always agree with Donald Trump's decisions on the show.

There was no question that he should have fired Gary Busey instead of Mark McGrath. It was a move that Trump did purely for ratings. He wanted to keep the loony Busey around as long as he could.

Of course, it's only entertainment. It's a show. I don't have a problem with Trump trying to deliver a product that's as entertaining as possible. From a ratings standpoint, I suppose Trump exercised good judgment by keeping Busey another week. Trump is a showman.

In addition to being a showman, Trump is skilled at business. He has managed to amass a fortune. There's no question he's successful.

When it comes to diving into presidential politics, Trump is being a great showman. The fact that he's getting the media and some citizens to take him even remotely seriously as a candidate is testament to his skills as a performer.

However, when it comes to Trump's ability to be the voice and face of the conservative movement, the performance completely falls apart.

Savannah Guthrie interviewed Trump for the Today Show.

Guthrie didn't give Trump a chance to answer her questions, but putting that aside, Trump doesn't sound like someone with defined, solid principles.

When you compare what Trump has been trying to sell the American people in this round of media appearances with what he's said previously about issues and President George W. Bush and Obama, it makes Charlie Sheen appear more mentally stable than Trump.

Here's video of Guthrie's interview with The Donald:

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Just before the 3:00 mark, Guthrie asks Trump about the Paul Ryan budget.

Transcript

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Do you support the Ryan plan to bring the deficit down by $4 trillion?

DONALD TRUMP: I'm very concerned about doing anything that's going to tinker too much with Medicare. I protect the senior citizens. Senior citizens are protected. They are lifeblood, as far as I'm concerned. I think Paul Ryan is too far out front with this issue. I think he ought to sit back and relax.

Excuse me. Savannah...

GUTHRIE: So how do you attack the deficit if you don't touch Medicare, the entitlements, as you well know, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security? That's where the debt problem is. How do you address it if you're not going to touch Medicare?

TRUMP: Do you know how you do it? By stopping what's going on in the world. The world is just destroying our country. These other countries are sapping our strength. OPEC is sapping our strength. We can't pay $108 a barrel oil. It's sapping our country. And by the way, they are going to raise it higher because now Saudi Arabia said, 'There's plenty of oil. We're going to cut back.' Excuse me...

GUTHRIE: How does that go to the debt crisis?

TRUMP: Well, I'm saying what we want to do is create a strong country again and you can solve the deficit problem the easiest way.

GUTHRIE: But would you raise taxes to attack the deficit?

TRUMP: I don't think you have to. And let me just tell you, if we get this economy going again and we can do it by getting jobs, by bringing our jobs back, bringing them back. Let the other countries worry about themselves.

GUTHRIE: Should the U.S. cut defense spending to attack the deficit?

TRUMP: No. No, not in my opinion. We need great defense. I guarantee you of all of the Republicans, I'm the strongest on defense.

It's possible that NBC did an awful job of editing the interview, but as aired, Trump is dissing Paul Ryan.

I don't think a serious Republican presidential candidate would say that a powerhouse like Ryan should "sit back and relax."

Trump complains about other countries sapping our strength. I think he's serving to sap the strength from potential Republican candidates at the moment.

I look forward to June when Trump announces that he is NOT running for president, but there will be another season of Celebrity Apprentice.