Trump Takes Credit For Discovering Gaga

First Published: December 22, 2011 3:49 PM EST Credit: Getty Images Caption Lady Gaga / Donald TrumpLOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Should the Little Monsters be thanking Donald Trump for discovering Mother Monster? The reality TV star/real estate mogul says the Miss Universe pageant helped launch Lady Gaga to stardom. I own the Miss Universe pageant, he writes in his new book, Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again. About four years ago, during what you call half-time, we always have an entertainer. Weve had a lot of great people, and you dont pay them anything because its one of the biggest audiences and my people told me, Nobody knows who she is, but theres this woman with good talent named Lady Gaga. I said, I dont care if you like her, put her on. So we put her on it was live all over the United States and all over the world and the next day, nobody was talking about Miss Universe, everybody was talking, Who was the woman, who was the entertainer? She was unbelievable, Trump continued in his book. The singer performed what would become her first hit, Just Dance, during the ceremony in Vietnam, where Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza took home the crown. Shes been very gracious about it, he added. I dont want to say we made Lady Gaga, but she was incredible and that was her break. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.