Trump Reportedly Planning Post-Presidency Return to TV With ‘The Apprentice: White House’

Our reality TV president just can’t shake his roots. According to a new report from The Daily Beast, President Trump and former Apprentice creator Mark Burnett have already discussed continuing their reality TV franchise once Trump leaves office. Sources close to Trump and Burnett say that the two are currently working on idea for a series tentatively titled The Apprentice: White House, which “would be explicitly politics-themed and take full advantage of Trump’s status” as a world leader. “It is something Burnett thinks could be a money-spinner and Trump is very keen on doing,” a source told The Daily Beast.

The Daily Beast’s Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Cartwright report that Trump, now almost three years into his presidency, misses his reality television days. Sources close to the president say that he is thinking about returning to his TV hosting gig once he’s done with his leader of the free world gig, and he has already mentioned the idea to Burnett, his friend and former producer. Trump and Burnett have reportedly “discussed reviving their creative partnership, pitching each other details on potential TV projects to be filmed after the Trump presidency.”

One of Trump’s favorite ideas is a series tentatively titled The Apprentice: White House, a political riff on the business-oriented Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice. Suebsaeng and Cartwright write that this series would be produced immediately after the president leaves office in order to “take full advantage of Trump’s status as a former president of the United States and a newfound Republican kingmaker.” A person with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Beast that “there have been several discussions between Burnett and Trump about The Apprentice: White House … It is something Burnett thinks could be a money-spinner and Trump is very keen on doing.”

“They actually talked about an Apprentice: White House,” said another source, before adding, “As far as I know, the discussion did not go far.”

Trump and Burnett worked together for over a decade on The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, the former of which ran for 15 seasons from 2004 to 2017 (Trump only appeared in the first 14; Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped in to host the final season). During that time, the men became extremely close, and except for a brief tense period following Trump’s viral “Grab ’em by the pussy” tape — Burnett spoke out against the “hatred” present in Trump’s campaign — they have remained good friends. A source close to Burnett says that the producer openly brags about his relationship with the president. “Mark would say, ‘My relationship with the president is incredibly strong. I’m the most powerful person in Hollywood because of it. I could wipe the floor because of it,'” they told The Daily Beast. “Mark has no shame.”

A spokesperson for Burnett disputed The Daily Beast’s reporting. “The quoted statements attributed to Mr. Burnett are absolutely false,” said a representative. “Among other things, The president and Mr. Burnett have not discussed making television shows in any shape or form.”

For more on Trump’s potential return to reality TV, read The Daily Beast’s report.