Arnold Schwarzenegger: Trump’s Immigration Ban Makes U.S. ‘Look Stupid’

Celebrity Apprentice host Arnold Schwarzenegger was straightforward about his thoughts on President Donald Trump's recent immigration and travel ban, saying Monday he believes it is a mistake that "was vetted badly" and "makes us look stupid." 

The actor and former California governor, who took over Apprentice hosting duties from Trump earlier this month, told Extra on Monday of the ban, "I think that the real problem is that it was vetted badly."

"I know what he's trying to accomplish," he continued, "and his fear of having people come in from other places and cause harm to the country and all of that stuff, but there is another way of going about it and doing it the right way to accomplish the same goals. And so I think that they were hasty with it."

President Trump's immigration and travel ban sparked protests at airports across the country over the weekend, with people, including L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, speaking out against the detention of travelers. The executive order, signed Friday, targets people from countries including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

Schwarzenegger said he could relate to people having trouble with green cards ("I was in that position") and that he believes the ban "is crazy and it makes us look stupid when the White House is ill-prepared to put these kind of executive orders out there."

"At the same time, I have to say I went through some of those problems when I was governor," he conceded. "You go in there new with a new team and mistakes are made. I hope that this is a wake-up call for them."

The ban was a hot topic at Sunday night's SAG Awards, with a majority of the presenters and winners addressing the issue onstage. Among the winners, Veep's Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stranger Things' David Harbour and Moonlight's Mahershala Ali addressed the issue and the continuing protests over the weekend, with Ali delivering an emotionally charged speech about being a Muslim in America. 

Also on Monday, Schwarzenegger said in an interview with Access Hollywood that he doesn't agree with the idea that celebrities shouldn't use that sort of venue to speak their mind. "People have to choose where they want to get their statements out" and "everyone picks a different place to do it. That was, for them, a perfect place to do it, and I personally don't mind at all."

"And as a matter of fact," he added, "there's a lot of people in the entertainment business that would like to be in politics, so the question is just who really would have the guts to do it. It's all about, 'Do you have the balls to do it?' The minute you step into politics, 50 percent of the people immediately don't like you." 

"I think entertainers like to be in politics and be involved in policy, and I think that people in Washington like to be in Hollywood," he said, adding that senators have often asked him to be in his movies.