Schwarzenegger hits back over Trump's Apprentice Twitter attack

Arnold Schwarzenegger has responded to Donald Trump's Twitter rant that claimed the star had been "destroyed" in his role as Celebrity Apprentice presenter.

The President-elect blamed the former governor of California for losing almost half of the show's viewers.

"Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got 'swamped' (or destroyed)," Mr Trump wrote in a tweet on Friday morning.

"By comparison to the ratings machine, DJT," he added, referring to himself in the third person.

Since Schwarzenegger took over from Mr Trump in the boardroom, the NBC show has dropped 44% in ratings from the previous year.

"So much for being a movie star," Mr Trump wrote in a second tweet.

"And that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary," he added.

Schwarzenegger's comeback came a few hours later - with the star striking a diplomatic and measured tone.

The Terminator star tweeted: "There is nothing more important than the people's work, @realDonaldTrump".

"I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll work for ALL of the American people as aggressively as you worked for your ratings," he added.

He tweeted one last time to the President-elect, asking him to watch a video of the actor reciting a quote from President Lincoln - "one of my heroes".

"We are not enemies, but friends," the quote goes.

"We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection..."