Arnold Schwarzenegger reflects on affair, Twitter feud with Donald Trump

The actor also reflected on his affair and the breakup of his marriage.

ByABC News
March 2, 2017, 11:33 AM

— -- Arnold Schwarzenegger is reflecting on the affair that broke up his marriage to Maria Shriver and his social media showdown with Donald Trump.

He admitted in an interview with Men's Journal he does "think about [the affair] every so often."

"And I can beat myself up as much as I want. It's not gonna change the situation," he said in the April issue of the magazine. "So the key thing is, how do you move forward? How do you have a great relationship with your kids?"

Schwarzenegger and Shriver split in 2011 after the former California governor admitted he fathered a child outside of the relationship. The two, who had four children during their 25-year marriage, have not finalized their divorce yet.

"You can't go back," Schwarzenegger continued. "If I could, in reality, be Terminator, of course I would go back in time and would say, 'Arnold?...no.'? You know, it's always easy to be smart in hindsight. That's not the way it works."

The actor and his estranged wife appear to be on good terms. Last September, the pair were seen with three of their children -- Patrick, Christina and Katherine -- at a 23rd birthday party for Patrick.

During the wide-ranging interview, Schwarzenegger, 69, also opened up about his recent feud with Donald Trump.

After the latest season of "Celebrity Apprentice" premiered, in which Schwarzenegger replaced Trump as host, the president took to Twitter to complain about the ratings.

"Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got 'swamped' (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for ... being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14," Trump wrote.

"Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary," the president continued, referring to his presidential democratic opponent.

Schwarzenegger said in the magazine that after the president tweeted, he spoke to his team. "I said, 'Let's sit on it for an hour.'"

"I called my assistant and said, 'I think what we really should do is request a meeting and go back to New York. And then we just smash his face into the table,'" he quipped, laughing.

"And then I think 'We can't do that, either.' I think I have to be above all of that and put him on the spot," Schwarzenegger said.

The actor ended up posting a video to his social media accounts, saying, "Hey, Donald, I have a great idea. Why don't we switch jobs?"

"You take over TV, because you're such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job," he continued. "Then people can finally sleep comfortably again."

"I think people really reacted well to that response," Schwarzenegger said of his video. "I sound more presidential and more diplomatic and more elder statesman -- that's exactly the way Donald should be. And I should be the other way."