The Terminator star won the governorship of California in 2003 and served two terms before stepping down in 2011, but he is unable to enter the presidential race because candidates must be a natural-born citizen of the United States.

However, Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, insists that if he was American, he would be in with a good chance of clinching the Republican Party nomination ahead of the 2016 election.

He tells Britain's The Daily Telegraph newspaper, "If I had been born here, it would give me great pleasure to jump into that race. I think I could make the same impact I did during my race as governor, getting through the crowd very quickly and emerging with sound statements and sound visions instead of the crazy stuff that you hear out there now... I miss it (politics), especially when I see all of this field of candidates jumping into the race."