you can't have cookies. >> steve: you can't have both. >> gretchen: i wonder how donald trump thinks about that. >> steve: welcome to the show. >> good morning. >> steve: down on capitol hill what they're doing is trying to figure out -- they're trying to get it to this magic number of $33 billion. the democrats say that's already a done deal. boehner says no, it's not. if you were there in the rotunda, how would you cut a deal? 'cause you're good at the art of a deal. >> i think boehner is doing a good job, but he's trying to get the best number he can and it looks like he's got the votes, but the really big one will be what paul ryan, who i think is also a terrific guy, just absolutely terrific, what he's trying to do, that's the long-term picture. and the 4 trillion and that's ultimately something is going to have to be done and it would be lovely if everybody could get together and work it out because it is so political and the democrats are going to be using that very strongly against the republicans, unfortunately. >> gretchen: would you be okay with a $33 billion?

>> again, i think that this is a very important one symbolically, but the big one will be 2012. that's the real number that's going to make the big difference because as much as $33 billion is, the real number that you're looking at, you're talking about trillions and trillions of dollars. so it would be good to work it out. i think it's going to work out from everything i hear. it's very close to being a done deal. he's going to get a couple of votes. i think the democrats actually cat -- a few democrat also vote for it. and it will be done. but the interesting crunch will be in 2012. >> brian: revolutionary is this budget proposal. i'm sure a lot of democrats won't like it, but it's brand-new. they'll have to read it first. here is a little bit. representative ryan yesterday with chris wallace. >> we can't keep kicking this can can down the road. the president punted. we're not going to follow suit and yes, we will be giving our political adversaries things to use against us in the next complexion same on them if they do that. >> steve: he's talking about

doing something about medicaid. >> brian: and medicare and social security. >> steve: exactly. >> he's talking really about long-term fixing the country. and the risk is that the democrats just sit back and say, how dare they. look what they're doing to our country and win an election. so you have to be very careful, but he's doing the right thing in that he's starting this dialogue and he's starting it a little bit early. of course, what's early? you could say it's many years too late. he is a terrific guy. if he can get some democrats on the side of -- this could be somewhat bipartisan, it would be fantastic for the country. >> brian: donald, as you know, they recommended to the deficit commission a rise in taxes as well as all these cuts. will you be open if you were a republican, in the house and senate or the white house, to raising taxes? >> the only thing they're not talking about is what other countries are doing. you know, my big thing is what other countries, many other countries, i use china as the primary example because they're

a major abuser, but what they're doing to us in terms of jobs. they're taking our money, but also taking our jobs. and i think if you straighten that situation out, you don't have to raise taxes. >> gretchen: very interesting. all right. on the lighter side, oprah winfrey, her show willing going off the air and in one of her final shows, she wants to go out with a bang by giving you possibly bangs. she wants to redo your hairdo, donnel, and that is something you've had the same for your whole life. would you ever do it? >> it's interesting, she's a friend of mine and we just did a show with her. i think they're airing that show today. like a family show. she was lovely. she's great person. but she does want to give me a makeover. i don't know if that's exclusively hair. maybe it's other things, too. she wants to give me a makeover. you know the ratings are phenomenal on nbc for the "apprentice." i think they may have a slight problem. but i'm worried about a sinister plot. the plot is she supported obama. maybe she wants to give me a makeover so i would not have even a minor chance against him.

now i have to be worried about that. >> steve: in what way. >> you know i'm kidding. >> steve: what could she possibly do with a makeover to make you unappealing? >> well, i don't know. i have had this hair style for a long time. i don't know what i would look like with a crew cut. >> brian: donald, last night watching the "i prentice", it's must see tv. the men kicked butt and the women didn't last night. and gary busey and meatloaf almost took each other apart. >> well,. >> steve: donald? >> they really went after it. it was incredible. i mean, i must say, i'm looking at television. this scene with meatloaf is all over the place. and it was something special. ultimately i got rid of richard hatch because he didn't raise any money. but it was an amazing evening of television and i heard it did great. everybody was looking forward to

it. by the way, i have to tell you, next week is even beyond because nene gets into something with star jones, the likes of which i've never seen. >> brian: there were reports you're talking to roger stone about handling your campaign. he worked with nixon, reagan, the bushes. is that correct? >> roger stone has been very nice. he thinks i'm doing fantastic. a poll just came out that said i'm winning by a long shot in terms of the republican primary. roger has been very nice, but he's not involved in my campaign in any way. >> gretchen: did you get any fallout from your comments about what america should did in iraq? >> no, i had an amazing response from "the o'reilly factor" show. it's probably the biggest show he's done in the sense of three fairly full nights of me and he was very happy because his ratings were phenomenal. so he was happy. but we had three really amazing nights. no, i very simply said that iran is going to take over iraq and if that's going to happen, we

should just stay there and take the oil. they want the oil and why should we -- we denuded iraq, iran will walk in, take it over, take over the second largest oil fields in the world. that's going to happen. that would mean that all of those soldiers that have died and been wounded and everything else would have died in vain and i don't want that to happen. i want them to be -- i want their parents and their families to be proud. the last thing i want to see happen is for iran to go in and take over iraq and the oil fields of iraq because we weakened that country to a point where they can just walk in. so i say, we take the oil. in the old days, when you won a war, to the victor belong the spoils. you kept it. we win a war, we hand it over to some people we don't know and leave! >> brian: or we lose the contracts to china. >> yeah, china will be another one. by the way, libya supplies the oil for china. we get no oil from libya. what are we doing? >> steve: good question. >> gretchen: so many issues to talk about. that's why we're so glad we have you every monday to pick your

brain. >> i love being with you. >> steve: don't let oprah touch that hair. >> brian: within two months, we'll know if he's running. i think he