Trump: Barbara Lied To Both Of Us

"Squabble" Gets Uglier As The Donald Says He Doesn't Blame O'Donnell For Being Angry

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NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2007 | by Amy Bonawitz

(CBS)  Donald Trump has sent a letter to nemesis Rosie O'Donnell in which he says that O'Donnell has good reason to be angry since Barbara Walters has lied to them both, Entertainment Tonight reports on its Web site.

The letter, which begins "Dear Rosie," says that Walters called Trump while she was away on vacation and told him that working with O'Donnell "is like living in hell." He says that Walters told him "more pointedly, 'Donald, never get into the mud with pigs' and, 'don't worry, (Rosie) won't be here for long,' " he writes in the letter sent on Tuesday to "The View" cohost.

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Photos: Donald Trump

Photos: Rosie O'Donnell

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"Barbara knows exactly what she told me over the phone and she has to live with it. Perhaps that's why her initial statement was so mild!" Trump said.

Trump referenced the New York Post's report of a fight between Walters and O'Donnell during hair and make-up before Monday's show.

"An article in today's New York Post indicates that you blew up at Barbara Walters for being a 'liar.' Actually, I don't blame you, but in fact she lied to both of us!" Trump writes in the letter.

"After your maniacal and foolish rant against me two weeks ago, Barbara called me from her vacation (I did not call her) in order to apologize for your behavior," he says. "She had heard that I was going to retaliate against you and tried to talk me out of it. She very much wanted me to go on the show as soon as she got back so that she could 'patch things up' (I said no)."

2Trumps added that he saw Walters eating at a restaurant about two months ago and asked how O'Donnell was doing on "The View" to which she sarcastically rolled her eyes and responded, "Donald, do you have to ruin my meal."

"In any event," Trump wrote in his closing, "you have a good reason to be angry. Please give my warmest regards to Kelly!"

Lastly, he added: "I was surprised that you let your spat with Barbara get into the newspapers, but, as I have always said and as you proved with Rosie, the magazine, you are very self destructive. You must work on this for your own good!"

Clearly, things aren't as hunky dory between Walters and O'Donnell as they made it seem on Monday's "View." The New York Post reported Tuesday that prior to taking the stage for Monday's show, tempers erupted in the hair and make-up room between Walters and O'Donnell.

In a fight that started around 8:30 a.m., O'Donnell called the show's creator "a (bleeping) liar," the newspaper reports. Walters, fresh from a two week vacation, reportedly tried to hug the comedian to which O'Donnell recoiled and said, "You kept me in the newspapers this whole time!" spies tell the Post.

A rep for "The View" says the reported fight was merely a squabble. "From the first day Rosie spoke about Donald Trump, Barbara has been nothing but supportive of Rosie. Whatever happened in the hair and makeup room was only a squabble. It's business as usual. Everyone has moved on," publicist Karl Nilsson told The ShowBuzz Tuesday.

During the spat, Walters reportedly tried to calm O'Donnell down by saying, "I did everything I could to squash the story." But O'Donnell fired back: "You didn't call me for 10 goddamn days, and you didn't tell me what you were going to say on television!"

O'Donnell is reportedly furious that Walters never called Trump's statements an outright lie. "You went all around this and never called (Trump) a liar. You never said, 'Donald is lying.' You never called him a liar," she reportedly said to Walters.

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