Donald Trump Says He Will Devote ‘Zero Time’ to ‘Celebrity Apprentice’

President-elect blasts reports that he will work on show while in office

Donald Trump on "Celebrity Apprentice"
NBC

In what’s become one of his preferred means of communication — an early-morning Twitter rant — President-elect Donald Trump emphatically denied reports that he would continue to work on his reality TV show “Celebrity Apprentice” while occupying the Oval Office.

Trump’s spokeswoman told TheWrap Thursday that the real estate developer would maintain a “big stake” in the show, where celebrity contestants compete in business-inspired tasks to win money for charity and eventually become the “apprentice.” “Celebrity Apprentice” is itself a spinoff of the original “The Apprentice,” where aspiring moguls battled for the chance to win $250,000 and a position in the Trump Organization.

Trump clarified the news, saying he will retain his executive producer credit on the show, but took aim at reports — especially those from CNN — claiming that he’d be involved with it in any form other than receiving royalty checks. Saturday morning tweets ensued:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/807547249681166336

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/807588632877998081

Friday evening, CNN posted a story claiming that Trump’s “Apprentice” deal could bring him some money from the show’s product integration deals, implying that advertisers could curry favor with the president-elect by sponsoring the show.

Trump’s second tweet was actually the replacement of a deleted tweet in which he misspelled “ridiculous.”

Mark Burnett, currently the president of MGM Television, created the show, which Trump hosted for the first 14 seasons. The upcoming season, which premieres on Jan. 2, is hosted by former California governor and iconic action star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Contestants include former NFL players Eric Dickerson and Ricky Williams, boxer Laila Ali and comedian Jon Lovitz.

Comments