at 17:15 on January 3, 2007, EST.

NEW YORK (AP) - Barbara Walters is back from vacation - and she's standing by Rosie O'Donnell in her bitter battle of words with Donald Trump.

Walters, creator of ABC's "The View," said Wednesday on the daytime chat show that she never told Trump she didn't want O'Donnell on the show, as he has claimed. "Nothing could be further from the truth," she said.

"She has brought a new vitality to this show and the ratings prove it," Walters said of O'Donnell, who is on vacation this week. When she returns, Walters said, "We will all welcome her back with open arms."

Walters also took a moment to try to smooth things over with The Donald, who got all riled up when O'Donnell said on "The View" that he had been "bankrupt so many times."

"ABC has asked me to say this just to clarify things, and I will quote: 'Donald Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy. Several of his casino companies have filed for business bankruptcies. They are out of bankruptcy now,' " Walters said.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Trump said he appreciated that Walters "did a retraction" and claimed the show's "ratings are up because of people like me."

"Barbara fully understands what Barbara told me," he said. "At the same time, she can't say that because she has to work with the woman. But she won't be working with her long. I mean, that thing will explode because Rosie's wacko."

O'Donnell and Trump have been feuding since he announced last month that Miss USA Tara Conner, whose title had been in jeopardy because of underage drinking, would keep her crown. Trump is the owner of the Miss Universe Organization, which includes Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.

The 44-year-old outspoken moderator of "The View," who joined the show in September, said Trump's news conference with Conner had annoyed her "on a multitude of levels" and that the twice-divorced real estate mogul had no right to be "the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America."

Trump fired back, calling O'Donnell a "loser" and a "bully," among other insults, in various media interviews.

He is the host of NBC's "The Apprentice," which begins its new season Sunday.


©The Canadian Press, 2007

Isn't she the bitch that wears underwear with dickholes in em?

karmatornado said:

not sure but...he's the bitch that wears a portion of beyonce's weave on his head.

sosgemini said:

karmatornado said:

So, how do you know ?

sosgemini said:

you TWO guys !!!

he's an idiot.

and all this because rosie mocked his hair and his fragile ego couldn't handle it.

sosgemini said:

According to Beyonce, Beyonce's hair is Beyonce's.....Beyonce's hair has NEVER belonged to a horse....

may they deliver mutual death blows in a broken bottle fight--to be televised by CBS

NDRU said:

hells yeah

NDRU said:

I dunno if that's possible... Rosie would probably kick his ass pretty easily.

NorthernLad said:

I imagine he could flip his comb-over and inflict some serious stunning power on her.

NDRU said:

cborgman said:

cborgman said:

He's such an arrogant, jackass

Mach said:

mach, ya kill me

i don't like Rosie. i mean i didn't like her way before all of this, i always thought she was just a big pot of hot stinky air.

reneGade20 said:

So she used human hair. She can afford it.

missfee said:

I'm not a huge fan of Rosie either (well, except when she was Betty Rubble in the Flintstones movie ) but a lot of Trump's comments were out of line. I like him less, so I'm rooting for Rosie on this one.

meow85 said:

doesn't matter whether if its human hair, horse hair, or cowhide...she claims she's never had a weave....EVER!! The flowing mane she now sports is naturally hers....nary a stitch to be found...

and its really not that serious.....

reneGade20 said:

are you sure you don't have KP duty???

BlackAdder7 said:

remember? I have minions to do my bidding.....

reneGade20 said:

Oh rightttt.....is it porno watching time then?

BlackAdder7 said:

(shady whisper): we're not supposed to have that over here....apparently, they piss off our reluctant hosts off something fierce....

As long as the ratings are high Barbera will put up with Rosie's antics. If the ratings went down because of Rosie's games then Barbera would eventually get rid of her. Ratings win out over proper behavior.

cborgman said:

All this because Rosie is loud mouthed judgemental jackass who just happened to spout off on someone who was gonna fire back for once. She should shut her big mouth if she can't take what she dishes out.

DEH5 said:

You're right that is the only thing Barbara Walters is concerned about in this, the ratings she took basically the same position with the Star Jones situation from the way I saw it during that whole thing all you heard was Star Jones of the "The View" now it's Rosie of "The View", it's all about the ratings.

alwayslate said:

The things Rosie said were no where near as insulting and derogatory as the things he's said about her in retaliation. And anything she's said since he responded to her was in response to his crazy ass tirade.

She's a comedian. She didn't agree with something he did and she expressed it. If he didn't want ppl expressing their feelings about his decision, he shouldn't have held a press conference, like anybody really gives a damn about Miss USA except when she's fucking up. A normal person would've just said I disagree, but she's a comedian who is getting paid to be funny, so she made it funny. All she really did was make fun of his hair and bring up some bankruptcy issues. Now he's insulting her intelligence, and her weight, and her family. He's ridiculous. Not only that, everything he said was a bunch of bullshit and lies.

PurpleRighteous1 said:[quote]

alwayslate said:

she is??? she sucks....i hope Donald drains her of every dollar and ounce of blubber

alwayslate said:

exactly.