Trump reportedly wanted to keep hosting The Apprentice from the Oval Office
President Trump reportedly wasn't very serious about his 2016 presidential run.
At least that's the message he sent The Apprentice showrunners in June 2015 after announcing he was entering the race, NBC insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter. As NBC executives scrambled to deal with Trump's new ambitions — and address the fact that he called Mexicans "rapists" during his campaign announcement — Trump reportedly told them he would be out of the race by September.
Trump suggested running for president multiple times both before and throughout his tenure on The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice. That included in 2011, when Celebrity Apprentice "wasn't doing especially well," but "neither was NBC," per The Hollywood Reporter. So then-NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke worked out a deal with Trump, sources say: A $500,000 contribution to the Trump Foundation. Flash forward a few years and Trump has had to dissolve the charity as part of a lawsuit alleging Trump used it as his personal piggy bank; some insiders reportedly thought at the time that Trump just took the $500,000 for himself.
Trump's presidential ambitions struck again in 2015. This time, he told showrunners he'd announce a bid in June, leave the race by September, and be back filming Celebrity Apprentice by January, one former network insider told The Hollywood Reporter. But Trump never dropped out, and it was perhaps influenced by the fact that NBC cut ties with him on June 29 over his racist comments about Mexican immigrants in his announcement speech. Trump "thought it was a mistake, and was belligerent," the insider said. "He didn't see why he couldn't do the show from the Oval Office," another source said.
Trump never did quite cut ties with NBC; He's even holding a town hall on the network Thursday. And he brought his penchant for firing — the highest rated part of The Apprentice — to the White House as well. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.
More stories from theweek.com
Will there be another Trump surprise in Michigan?
The 1 big problem with 2 town halls
Democrats need a better counter to 'originalism'
