Sarah Palin to dine with Donald Trump as part of bus tour

After stopping by the Liberty Bell, Sarah Palin and her magical mystery bus planned Tuesday to visit another famous American icon: Donald Trump.

The Times’ Robin Abcarian -- currently chasing the bus in a car -- confirmed that Palin will meet with Trump Tuesday evening at the Trump Tower in Manhattan, and the two will reportedly have dinner.

Beyond being a cable news network executive’s dream pairing, Palin and Trump have much in common. Both have teased the public incessantly about their 2012 plans. Both have pilloried the media even as they have mounted massive publicity-generating ventures, Trump with his birth-certificate-driven presidential flirtation and Palin with her catch-me-if-you-can bus tour of the Northeast. And both, among all potential GOP candidates, have by far the highest negative ratings. (If you add them together, you exceed 100 -- and blow apart the space-time continuum.)

Both have also made potential endorsers unhappy in their recent travails. Once Trump, torn between running for president and hosting NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” said he would not pursue a White House bid, he backed out of a pledge to headline the GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner in Iowa. The planners deep-sixed the fundraiser as a result, accusing Trump of breaking his word.

Palin has also triggered some griping. The editorial page editor of New Hampshire’s influential Manchester Union Leader, Drew Cline, has been complaining on Twitter about Palin’s bus tour, which has left both journalists and supporters scrambling to figure out where the Fox News commentator is going to turn up next.

“If Palin doesn’t want media following her, as she told Fox News, then maybe she shouldn’t be riding in a bus with her name on it,” Cline tweeted Tuesday. He followed that up by wondering how her supporters were supposed to find her.

If Palin is indeed serious about running for president, associating herself with Trump, who has become increasingly unpopular in GOP circles since early May, is an interesting tack to take. (Also, have you ever tried to park a large tour bus in Midtown?)

According to ABC News, Palin and Trump will dine somewhere “low-key” in Manhattan. Can we suggest Ray’s? Famous Ray’s? Really Famous Ray’s? Nathan’s? That falafel place on 34th Street?

james.oliphant@latimes.com