Although Donald Trump has assumed the mantle of leader of the free world and all the power that comes with it, the president apparently still misses his former life as a reality TV show host. According to The Daily Beast, Trump has been trading informal pitches with The Apprentice creator and executive producer Mark Burnett for reality shows the president plans on starring in after he leaves the White House, whenever that may be.
One of the more concrete ideas to reportedly emerge from those discussions involves a show with the working title The Apprentice: White House. It’s designed to capitalize off of Trump’s tenure as POTUS and de facto leader of the Republican party.
“There have been several discussions between Burnett and Trump about The Apprentice: White House,” a source told The Daily Beast. “It is something Burnett thinks could be a money-spinner and Trump is very keen on doing.”
Another source confirmed to the Beast that the two men had discussed The Apprentice: White House, but added, “As far as I know, the discussion did not go far.”
In a statement issued to the site, a rep for Burnett said: “The quoted statements attributed to Mr. Burnett are absolutely false. Among other things, the president and Mr. Burnett have not discussed making television shows in any shape or form.”
That Trump may be considering turning his tenure in public service into a brand from which to profit is gross, but par for the course for a guy who had to pay out a $25 million settlement to students of his sham Trump University before he assumed the country’s highest office. In a way, Trump eyeing a return to TV after he leaves office is a bit of a relief, because it signifies that he actually plans on leaving the White House one day. Given his authoritarian leanings and tendency to repeatedly “joke” about how he should be allowed to serve as president for longer than the legally allotted two terms, his return to television after is preferable to Trump imitating the strongmen he admires by throwing on a Gaddafi-style faux military jacket covered in epaulets and declaring himself president for life.
The real villain in this scenario is Burnett, who enabled Trump’s rise to power by allowing him to play the role of a billionaire mogul on television despite the former real estate developer’s numerous bankruptcies, failed business ventures, and shady enterprises. Burnett also apparently has no problem doing business with a guy who is accused of sexually harassing at least 20 Apprentice crew and cast members while on set. (Per the Associated Press, Burnett has not responded to any of their requests for comment about the alleged behavior behind the scenes of The Apprentice.)
Of course, that Burnett and Trump are even reportedly having these discussions is curious given that the president has declared, without merit, that former President Barack Obama should be investigated for making a deal with Netflix after he left office. Granted, Obama was well within his rights to ink a production deal with the streaming service since becoming a private citizen. Shouldn’t Trump be too busy leading a nation and mounting an impeachment defense to be thinking of show ideas?
