Trump tells R-J TV columnist ‘you don’t cancel’ popular TV shows to run for president

Donald Trump sounds a bit defensive about ditching his plan to run for president so he can continue to star in his reality TV show, "Celebrity Apprentice."

"You don't cancel shows that have very good ratings," Trump wrote in a handwritten note sent Tuesday to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's TV columnist.

The columnist, Christopher Lawrence, had written a Sunday column that mentioned Trump in passing, calling him a "boorish host of a third-rate reality show."

Lawrence added, "Part of me wishes Trump had run for president, just so NBC would have been forced to cancel his 'People Who Seem Vaguely Familiar Apprentice.' "

Seems that Lawrence's column hit a nerve withTrump. The New York developer and media mogul wrote his note to Lawrence on a copy of his R-J column (see below) and had an assistant email it to the TV columnist along with information from NBC about the healthy ratings that Trump's show had received all season.

For example, the "Celebrity Apprentice" finale Sunday night had 8.3 million viewers, beating the Billboard Music Awards, according to Nielsen ratings.

Trump had flirted for months with the idea that he might run for the Republican presidential nomination. He traveled the country, giving speeches and drawing crowds, including in Las Vegas, as he criticized President Obama's policies on everything from trade to taxes.

Earlier this month, Trump announced he wouldn't run. He broke the news during NBC's presentation of its fall schedule, which included the return of "Celebrity Apprentice." NBC executives had essentially given Trump an ultimatum, saying he couldn't be the star of the show if he ran for president. And there is no show without The Donald.

R-J's TV columnist was a little baffled that Trump would find time to respond to a small mention in a broader column.

"That's just weird," Lawrence said. "I mean, really, it's just weird."

Donald Trump sent a note to Review-Journal columnist Christopher Lawrence regarding Lawrence's remarks about Trump's reality show "Celebrity Apprentice."