He’s back, and not a moment too soon.

On the day that former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty officially announced his bid for the presidency, ringmaster of the GOP circus Donald Trump tossed his top hat back into the ring. Kind of.

The past week has been brutal for Trump fans. The last sighting of The Donald was May 16, when he headed off into the political sunset, demolished by the Presidential release of a long-form Hawaiian birth certificate, but bolstered by the promised millions to be showered upon him by NBC for his duties on “Celebrity Apprentice.”

A mere week in the political wilderness apparently is too much for Trump.

Today, the bombastic one pre-empted straight-talking Pawlenty, announcing via a phone call on “Fox & Friends” that he's severely underwhelmed by the current crop of GOP wannabe Commanders-in-Chief.

The real estate baron believes it’s vital for Republicans to have a strong candidate to take on President Obama. “I don’t see that person,” said Trump. In a funny outreach to evangelicals, Trump bemoaned the withdrawal of born-again Mike Huckabee from the Republican pack. PR savvy Trump believes Huckabee could have won the prize.

Casino-owner Trump and Huck are certainly an odd couple. The Donald can’t rule out the possibility of jumping back into the race to snatch the crown from current front-runners Mitt Romney and Pawlenty.

Trump humbly said: “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election.”

Stay tuned, America.

Meanwhile, New York Magazine reports that Roger Ailes, closet chairman of the Republican Party and Fox News chief, shares Trump’s concern over the lightweights running for the GOP nomination.

In a bid to inject some heft into the contest, Ailes summoned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to his upstate compound to persuade him to mount a run for the presidency. The N.J. Gov. would fit right in with the second-tier crop of challenged GOP contenders like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

Christie scored higher negatives than positives in a recent poll of Garden Staters. To know him is not to love him.

For 71-year-old kingmaker Ailes, four more years of Obama is not the legacy that he's angling for.