President Donald Trump may be plotting a return to reality television after he&#8217;s done in the White House.
<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-apprentice-creator-mark-burnett-are-discussing-their-next-tv-show?ref=home">According to the Daily Beast</a>, Trump has been trading ideas about a potential new reality TV competition program with Mark Burnett, the producer of &#8220;The Apprentice,&#8221; the business-based show that rocketed Trump to his current status as a cultural icon.
&#8220;Since taking office in early 2017, the president has confided to close associates that he misses hosting &#8216;The Apprentice&#8217; and &#8216;The Celebrity Apprentice&#8217; on NBC, the reality-TV staples he left behind to become the Republican Party standard-bearer and then the leader of the free world,&#8221; The Daily Beast reports.
Sources tell The Daily Beast that Trump has been trading emails with Burnett, pitching ideas about a politics-themed successor to &#8220;The Apprentice,&#8221; where players competed in Trump-designed challenges to win an internship or job with the Trump Corporation, usually assisting on a new project, like the Trump Tower in Chicago.
&#8220;The Apprentice&#8221; was a phenomenon, as was Trump&#8217;s catchphrase from the show, &#8220;you&#8217;re fired!&#8221; It also served as a launching pad for a number of Trump initiatives, including a clothing line. It may have also been a boon to Trump&#8217;s political career. Americans got used to Trump&#8217;s gruff boardroom behavior over the course of the show and came to see Trump as a larger-than-life character.
When Trump hit the campaign trail in 2015 (and even before), most of his &#8220;negative characteristics&#8221; (or what might be considered negative traits in other politicians) were baked into his image, leaving it hard to level a real, personal, scorched-earth style attack at Trump.
The new show could be called &#8220;The Apprentice: White House,&#8221; and would likely be designed to capitalize off Trump&#8217;s time as president.
&#8220;One of the ideas kicked around by Burnett and the president was shooting a new version of the Trump-branded Apprentice, tentatively titled The Apprentice: White House, and to produce it shortly after the president leaves office,&#8221; according to The Daily Beast&#8217;s insider knowledge. &#8220;This time, however, the TV program would be explicitly politics-themed and take full advantage of Trump’s status as a former president of the United States and a newfound Republican kingmaker.&#8221;
“There have been several discussions between Burnett and Trump about The Apprentice: White House,” one source told The Daily Beast. “It is something Burnett thinks could be a money-spinner and Trump is very keen on doing.”
But before anyone starts crafting their resumes and shooting their audition videos, another source cautioned The Daily Beast that whatever plans might be forming are still in their infancy: &#8220;They actually talked about an Apprentice: White House,” but &#8220;as far as I know, the discussion did not go far.”
Trump probably shouldn&#8217;t be making contingency plans anyway. According to the latest polls, particularly a recent offering from The New York Times, the president is doing well against his potential Democrat challengers, tying with former vice president Joe Biden in most &#8220;battleground states&#8221; and handily beating Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). He&#8217;s also far out-raising his Democrat counterparts; at last count, Trump had a bigger war chest than much of the 2020 Democratic field combined.

“Celebrity Apprentice” Red Carpet Event

Back To Reality…Television? Donald Trump Reportedly Plotting A Return Post-Presidency

Donald Trump

The Apprentice

According to <a href="http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/donald-trump-mark-burnett-celebrity-apprentice-executive-producer-1201937420/">Variety</a>, President-elect Donald Trump will retain an executive producer credit on the new &#8220;Celebrity Apprentice,&#8221; which will feature Arnold Schwarzenegger:
<blockquote>
It&#8217;s unclear what his per-episode fee is, but it is likely to be in the low five-figures, at minimum. NBC has ordered eight episodes of &#8220;The New Celebrity Apprentice.&#8221; Trump&#8217;s fees will be paid through MGM, the production entity on the show, not NBC.
</blockquote>
Variety pushes the idea that Trump&#8217;s executive producer credit is &#8220;another example of the thicket of potential conflicts of interest raised by Trump&#8217;s segue from private businessman and TV star to commander-in-chief.&#8221;
In order to appear remotely fair, Variety notes that President Obama earned royalties for his third book while acting as Commander in Chief. However, they summarily dismiss any wrongdoing by stating that Obama&#8217;s didn&#8217;t profit from his royalties:
<blockquote>
In the case of President Obama&#8217;s 2010 book &#8220;Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,&#8221; his profits from the Alfred A. Knopf publication were donated to a charity supporting the children of disabled veterans.
</blockquote>
(Hold for fawning applause)
While Variety is quick to mention Obama donating the profits from his latest book to charity, they fail to mention the royalties he generated&#8211;and kept&#8211;from his first two books while he was president.
According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2012/05/16/obamas-worth-nearly-6-million-see-why-hes-down-since-last-year/#6c74fea54825">Forbes</a>:
<blockquote>
The President&#8217;s hefty book royalties from &#8220;The Audacity of Hope&#8221; and &#8220;Dreams From My Father,&#8221; a big source of his wealth, are decreasing at a faster rate than we had estimated. In 2009, Obama&#8217;s book sales peaked and he grossed nearly $5.7 million, according to his income tax statement; by 2010, gross book revenues had dropped to $1.6 million.
</blockquote>
While there are numerous and legitimate conflict of interest concerns regarding Donald Trump&#8217;s business empire, this one seems like a stretch. That being said, with the recent Carrier deal, Trump has shown a capacity to engage in cronyism. It&#8217;s possible that the president-elect could pressure certain companies into participating with &#8220;Celebrity Apprentice&#8221; via coercion, or in exchange for favors. However, such a move would be wildly risky, and come with a negligible financial benefit.
Americans should train their focus on more pertinent issues, such as the president-elect&#8217;s Cabinet picks and policy decisions. Conflicts of interest are certainly important, but Donald Trump&#8217;s executive producer credit seems like a nothing-burger.

Fake Scandal: Trump to Remain an Executive Producer on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’

Trump Administration

Donald Trump is treating the presidency like he&#8217;s still running The Apprentice, apparently. Not only is he still addicting to tweeting, but on Tuesday night he offered this to the TV-watching public:
<div class="media_embed">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/798721142525665280">November 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
</div>
The Boston Globe was not alone in theorizing that Trump issued the tweet to forestall the impression that his transition team was arguing over appointments. The Globe <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/11/15/trump-only-one-who-knows-who-finalists-are/phxW5SWvBFDptJ9mHHIk3K/story.html">wrote</a>, &#8220;Trump, who clashed with leading Republicans throughout his campaign, faced growing tumult in his national security transition team on Tuesday as key members of his own party appeared to question his views and personnel choices.&#8221;
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/15/politics/mikes-rogers-leaves-trump-transition-team/">CNN</a> reported, &#8220;Donald Trump&#8217;s son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner is at the center of the &#8216;infighting&#8217; inside President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s transition team.&#8221;
Former Congressman Mike Rogers, a respected national security expert, left the transition team, telling CNN&#8217;s Jim Sciutto on The Lead, &#8220;Is there a little confusion in New York? I think there is. I think this is growing pains.&#8221;
<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-cabinet-transition-battles-231442">Politico</a> reported:
<blockquote>
The daunting task of filling top Cabinet posts appears to be a chaotic scramble inside Trump Tower, with competing power centers jockeying for position and influence as a steady stream of names both realistic and not gets floated to a baffled media. &#8220;It&#8217;s an absolute knife fight,&#8221; said one Trump insider.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
&#8220;Is there a little confusion in New York? I think there is. I think this is growing pains.&#8221;
Former Congressman Mike Rogers
</blockquote>
Even <a href="http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/11/16/donald-trumps-transition-team-reshaped-goodbye-lobbyists">Fox News</a> reported that as Mike Pence took control of the transition away from Chris Christie, heads were rolling: &#8220;Mr. Rogers was told he was being replaced because everyone who was brought in by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the transition team&#8217;s original chairman, was being ousted.&#8221;

Trump Won’t Stop Tweeting, Brags ‘I Am The Only One Who Knows Who The Finalists Are!’

Chris Christie

Mike Pence

Liberal satirical news program The Daily Show has uncovered footage from an episode of NBC&#8217;s Celebrity Apprentice revealing that Donald Trump once fired a contestant for &#8220;locker room talk.&#8221; 
The Daily Show posted the clip on its Twitter page Monday:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Donald Trump in 2010: &#8220;This is my boardroom. It&#8217;s not a locker room. Maria, you&#8217;re fired.&#8221; ¯_(&#12484;)_/¯ <a href="https://t.co/UlsP9Xjg7F">pic.twitter.com/UlsP9Xjg7F</a>
&#8212; The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/785597497737670657">October 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
The clip shows Trump blasting professional wrestler Maria Kanellis for using the term &#8220;crap&#8221; in his boardroom. At the time, she was confronting her fellow contestant, Australian chef Curtis Stone, for his use of the women&#8217;s bathroom. &#8220;The reason why I said you were so arrogant was because you came in our dressing room and you took a crap and left the stench in the room,&#8221; an indignant Kanellis told Stone. 
After a short back-and-forth between the two contestants, Trump appeared to sympathize with Stone and decided to condemn Kanellis for hitting a &#8220;little below the belt.&#8221;
Explicitly labeling her comments as &#8220;locker room&#8221; talk, Trump ultimately fired Kanellis for bringing inappropriate language into a professional space. 
&#8220;It is sort of gross, though, bringing that up. It&#8217;s like disgusting,&#8221; stated Trump before doing that famous &#8220;You&#8217;re fired!&#8221; gesture with his hands. &#8220;This is my board room. It&#8217;s not a locker room. Maria, you&#8217;re fired.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s offensive-taking in 2010 is now coming back to haunt him. &#8220;The GOP nominee&#8217;s no-nonsense attitude toward Kanellis six years ago is a change from the way he&#8217;s <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/300127-trump-i-never-groped-a-woman">brushed off</a> the current-day controversy raging over his past remarks,&#8221; <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/300320-trump-once-fired-a-celebrity-apprentice-contestant-for-locker">notes</a> The Hill.
Indeed, the real estate mogul has attempted to downplay the now-notorious and widely-seen video, in which he boasts about sexually assaulting women, by employing the term &#8220;locker room&#8221; to imply that his crude remarks are routinely echoed by other men in male-only, harmless conversational spaces. An analogue to the &#8220;boys will be boys&#8221; defense, Trump&#8217;s &#8220;locker room&#8221; excuse however has been disavowed by <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/5165250290001/pro-athletes-disavow-trumps-locker-room-talk-excuse/">pro-athletes</a> and Republican lawmakers alike as they distance themselves from the increasingly-alienated GOP nominee.
Now it seems that Trump himself, or at least the 2010 Celebrity Apprentice incarnation of Trump, probably doesn&#8217;t buy the excuse either. The billionaire businessman is no stranger to hypocrisy, but this time, the hypocrisy verges on self-parody.

FLASHBACK: Trump Fires A Female Contestant On ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ For ‘Locker Room’ Talk

Sexual Assault

The coterie around Hillary Clinton started making a concerted effort on Monday to cajole MGM to release unaired tapes from The Apprentice that could decimate the presidential ambitions of Donald Trump.
Clinton National Press Secretary Brian Fallon: &#8220;Voters deserve to know the full extent of Donald Trump&#8217;s misogyny, divisiveness, and lack of temperament,&#8221; said Clinton National Press Secretary Brian Fallon, who said he believed MGM should release the tapes. &#8220;I cannot fathom why people would sit on it.&#8221;
Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri: Releasing the tapes &#8220;would be in everybody&#8217;s interest. It would be useful to know what he has said &#8212; but we don&#8217;t need more evidence to know that this is someone who demeans not just women but a lot of people in our society.&#8221;
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, referring to the 2005 videotape of Trump that surfaced Friday: &#8220;He had the language of a predator. If there is more evidence out there, we should see it.&#8221;
MGM Studios has owned the rights to The Apprentice since 2015.
Trump spokesman Jason Miller would not comment on the Trump campaign&#8217;s position regarding the release of the tapes, saying succinctly, &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to get into that.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/clinton-campaign-calls-on-studio-to-release-apprentice-tapes?utm_term=.fu5WnJjq1">Buzzfeed</a> reported that a a <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/apprentice-pressure?utm_term=.qbe0LmgyG7#.gqYpB2k0Xn">source</a> close to Apprentice executive producer Mark Burnett said Burnett &#8220;is pro-Trump and has made clear to his teams that he will sue anyone who leaks.&#8221;
Meanwhile, a <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/crowdfunding-legal-fees-for-apprentice-leak?utm_term=.ssdvlEAxG9#.pqOQB40L5R">crowdfunding</a> campaign to pay for a possible leaker&#8217;s legal fees has been created.

Clinton Campaign Desperately Calls For Release Of Trump’s Apprentice Tapes

Hillary Clinton

In June, Sarah Ellison, writing for <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/donald-trump-tv-network">Vanity Fair</a>, posited that people around Donald Trump were thinking of using the massive number of Trump supporters to launch a new media platform and cable channel, adding that Trump himself was considering creating his own media business. She wrote that he had talked about launching a &#8220;mini-media conglomerate&#8221; with his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who owns The New York Observer.
Ellison quoted a source who was privy to the workings of the Trump campaign who said Trump&#8217;s rationale was &#8220;win or lose, we are onto something here. We&#8217;ve triggered a base of the population that hasn&#8217;t had a voice in a long time.&#8221;
Within the article was a reference to Trump&#8217;s irritation at creating revenue for media organizations while he didn&#8217;t get a cut, and most provocatively, a story about how Trump and Steve Burke, the chief executive of NBCUniversal, had a conversation in 2011 in which they discussed the possibility of Trump continuing to star in The Apprentice even if he ran for the presidency and won.
The idea Ellison reported went largely unnoticed, as it seemed so preposterous. But last week Ellison appeared at WNYC on The Takeaway and <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/trump-tv/">doubled down</a> that Trump might well parlay a successful run for the presidency into a renewal of his role on The Apprentice.
Ellison stated of Trump&#8217;s desire to form his own network:
<blockquote>
There have been discussions about this. So it&#8217;s not just something that we have all been thinking about in the media &#8230; what struck me when I was doing the reporting the first time around was they talked about the electorate as if it was an audience. And I think that is the main takeaway here, is that Trump doesn&#8217;t actually distinguish between what an audience would be that you could actually monetize, and what the political electorate is &#8230;
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
&#8220;We really would be living in a sort of Truman Show reality.&#8221;
Vanity Fair Contributing Editor Sarah Ellison
</blockquote>
When Ellison was asked if the seemingly fantastical supposition that Trump would actually film The Apprentice from the White House had been seriously considered, especially because he has now hired Steve Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, as his campaign chairman, a man who had no experience running a political campaign but knew media well, she answered:
<blockquote>
The idea was that you couldn&#8217;t do it during the campaign because of the equal time laws, but once you were in the White House, it&#8217;s a possibility. You could certainly do it from there. So then we really would be living in a sort of Truman Show reality.
</blockquote>
The Apprentice and its spin-off The Celebrity Apprentice have appeared on NBC since 2004; Trump served as the host from 2004-2007.