Jealous Network Bigwigs Question Trump Presidential Run

This is getting ugly now. Donald Trump's candidacy is a "stunt?" He's out in front! If the primaries were held today we'd be looking at the Trump/Palin ticket all the way.

He thinks he is presidential. What does that mean exactly? There are times I feel presidential and then there are times I don't.

Trump is going to announce the date he's going to announce whether he's running or not soon. And that's that. I think it's going to be great either way. He will either say "no, I'm not running," and look like a douchebag, or he will run and that will be blog heaven for us all.

Think Donald Trump's proposed presidential run is nothing more than a stunt?

So does NBC, home of the real estate mogul's hit show "Celebrity Apprentice."

An executive at the network told Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday that no one is falling for Trump's much-rumored 2012 campaign.

"We at the network have no idea whether Trump is serious about [running for president] or not," the executive, who asked to remain anonymous, told EW. "He won't tell even us - and we haven't pushed because we've just decided it is whatever it is. If he wants to spout off about things, we're happy to let him. But our inclination is that he's not serious about running for president. We think it's a stunt."

Trump has refused to say whether he will actually throw his hat into the ring as a Republican candidate next year, but his repeated hints about a possible campaign catapulted him into the lead in a recent poll of GOP primary candidates. The billionaire is expected to announce on the May 22 season finale of "Apprentice" the specific date when he will finally reveal whether or not he is running for office.

Television insiders believe Trump continues to fuel rumors of his presidential run to drive up ratings of his reality show.

Ratings for "Apprentice" are up as much as 20% this season, according to EW, and the show has nearly doubled its numbers from last season, now averaging almost 8 millions viewers an episode.

Trump, who has said the country can expect his decision by early June, told NBC he won't be signing a 3-year extension on the reality series until he officially decides his political future – which he remains optimistic about.

"I think I am presidential," he said on Tuesday's "Today" show.

[NY Daily News]