How Donald Trump caused the nasty blowup between The View's Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters,  who bad-mouthed her co-host so badly she quit the show after one year

The mantra of Barbara Walters's daytime talk show The View in its early days was to 'Make Sparks' - and nobody did that more than Rosie O'Donnell.

The comedienne left the show in 2007 after her first season, following a nasty blowup with Walters over Donald Trump, a new book reveals.

O'Donnell called Walters a 'f****** liar' because she didn't properly defend her against attacks from the then real estate mogul.

The clash came after O'Donnell weeks earlier erroneously claimed on air that Trump had gone bankrupt 'so many times', prompting Walters to call him to smooth things over.

But Trump would later claim that Walters had dished to him that working with O'Donnell was like 'living in hell' and that she was planning to get rid of her, author Susan Page reveals in new biography, The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters. 

New biography, The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters, reveals new details of Rosie O'Donnell's falling out with the co-host and creator of The View 

O'Donnell left quit the daytime talk show in 2007 after feeling betrayed by Walters, who failed to defend her in her infamous feud with Donald Trump

Trump claimed Walters (pictured together in 1989) had complained to him about working with O'Donnell and reassured him 'she won't be here for long'

The ensuing argument left O'Donnell feeling 'betrayed' by Walters who was too close to Trump and part of the 'rich money club', according to the book. 

The bad blood between Trump and O'Donnell would drag on for another decade, culminating with the president infamously insulting her on television during a 2015 presidential debate. 

When asked by moderator Megyn Kelly about using disparaging language, such as 'pigs', 'dogs' and 'slobs' to describe women, Trump shot back: 'Only Rosie O'Donnell'.

The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page is out April 23. Page is the Washington Bureau chief of USA TODAY whose previous books have been about Barbara Bush and Nancy Pelosi

Author Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief of USA Today, describes how the episode of The View that ultimately led to O'Donnell's departure aired on December 20, 2006.

Ironically, the guest that day was Hillary Clinton, who was mooted to run for the presidency in 2008.

As Hillary waited to appear on set, O'Donnell began to mock Trump.

What had sparked her ire was Trump refusing to take away the crown from Miss USA pageant winner at the time, Tara Conner, after she was caught doing cocaine and partying in bars.

Before a commercial break O'Donnell said: 'Oh jeez, I'm getting nauseous. I don't enjoy him in any capacity. We'll be back talking about Donald Trump and his hair loop'.

When the show came back on air, O'Donnell continued, branding Trump a 'snake oil salesman' and saying: '(He) left the first wife, had an affair.

'He inherited a lot of money, and he's been bankrupt so many times, where he didn't have to pay'.

The controversy unfolded after O'Donnell, who joined the ABC talk show in 2006, erroneously claimed that Trump 'had been bankrupt so many times' 

According to the author: 'Rosie didn't feel she (Walters) adequately defended her when she was under attack' by Trump

Walters instead called Trump to smooth things over and reassured him O'Donnell wouldn't be on the show 'for long' 

While some of Trump's businesses have gone bankrupt - such as six of his Atlantic City casinos - he himself has not.

Trump had been watching and called from Trump Tower, threatening to sue ABC, The View, O'Donnell and Walters.

Page writes that Walters called Trump and was 'conciliatory' and promised to correct O'Donnell's inaccurate claims that he had gone bankrupt.

But Trump then wrote an open letter to the New York Post claiming Walters had told him that working with O'Donnell was like 'living in hell' and that Walters told him: 'Never get into the mud with pigs'.

Trump also claimed that Walters told him: 'Don't worry, she won't be here for long'.

Walters was forced to issue a statement denying this but the damage was done to her relationship with O'Donnell.

Worse, Trump was now mocking O'Donnell in appearances on TV where he called her a 'wacko', a 'loser' and a 'bully'.

Page writes that in the days that followed, Walters did not call O'Donnell to offer her support.

'Rosie didn't feel she (Walters) adequately defended her when she was under attack. 

'She also didn't accept at face value Barbara's carefully worded statement about what she had said to Trump in that phone call,' the author says. 

The ensuing feud left O'Donnell feeling 'betrayed' by Walters who was too close to Trump and part of the 'rich money club'

Walters was a close friend of the Trump family, even attending Ivanka and Jared Kushner's 2009 wedding, where she is pictured above posing with Donald and wife Melania

Describing the episode, O'Donnell said: 'I was hurt. I was wounded. The worst part of it was that I knew from the get-go, twisted though he (Trump) was, that Barbara had said those things.

'In one way or another, she had betrayed me'.

O'Donnell saw Walters in the 'rich money club', of which Trump was a member, and when the 's*** hit the golden fan, she tossed (me) aside and cast her allegiance with the wealthy guy'.

Walters and O'Donnell came face to face for the first time a month later for a taping of the show - where they had a 'ferocious' argument.

On set O'Donnell called Walters a 'f****** liar' and told her how 'disappointed and shocked and hurt I was that she couldn't stand up for me'.

'I felt very betrayed about her going behind my back and speaking to Donald Trump in Trumpian language,' O'Donnell said.

As tempers continued to flare, O'Donnell called Walters a 'bad mother' and said: 'No wonder Jackie (Walters' adopted daughter) can't stand you'. 

A new biography on TV legend Barbara Walters reveals her callousness toward other women in the industry who she viewed as competition

The two made a show of on-air unity and Walters called Trump a 'poor, pathetic man', an insult that earned a rebuke from Trump.

He issued a statement calling Walters a liar and a 'sad figurehead dominated by a third-rate comedian', referring to O'Donnell.

O'Donnell left The View a few months later.

Later that year she wrote an acid-tongued memoir in which she wrote that Walters, who was 78 at the time, should retire.

'You can hide aging but you can't erase it', O'Donnell said.

She said that Walters seemed 'tired' and that when it was her own time to quit TV, she would 'be graceful and go'.

Page writes: 'Nothing could have enraged Barbara more than an expression of sympathy that sheathed a stiletto'.