Donald Trump Says Miss Universe Mix-Up 'Would Have Never Happened' During His Ownership, Suggests 'Co-Winners'

Trump called into the 'Today' show to give his advice on how to handle the crown catastrophe.

Former Miss Universe owner Donald Trump has a lot to say about that cringe-worthy Miss Universe mix-up -- but he also has a plan to fix it!

During Sunday night's three-hour broadcast, host Steve Harvey accidentally crowned Miss Colombia (Ariadna Gutierrez) as Miss Universe.A few minutes later, Harvey returned to the stage to awkwardly announce that he made a "huge mistake" and the real Miss Universe was actually Miss Philippines (Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach). Yikes!'

After that horrifying small screen snafu, Trump took to Twitter early this morning to share his snap judgments on the matter: "Very sad what happened last night at the Miss Universe Pageant," the presidential candidate wrote. "I sold it 6 months ago for a record price. This would never have happened!"


MORE: Behind-the-Scenes of Miss Universe 2015 and Steve Harvey's Awkward Mistake

Later Monday morning, Trump called into the Today show to further discuss the crown catastrophe.

"I'll tell you what I think I'd do, I think I'd make them a co-winner, that would be very cool," Trump revealed to Matt Lauer over the phone. "Because what happened to the girl from Colombia is devastating: to give it to her for a couple of minutes and then to take it away."

Trump, who owned the Miss Universe franchise for 15 years, sold the pageant to WME | IMG in September, also gave his advice for how the salvage the situation. "I would recommend that they go have a beautiful ceremony, which is good for the brand and good for Miss Universe, and do a co-winner. I think something like that could work," he said.

Despite the live TV nightmare, Trump was uncharacteristically empathetic about Harvey's mistake. "It was a tough evening, but you know what? Steve Harvey is a terrific guy and things like this do happen."