President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he wants Mark Burnett, the British television producer who created “The Apprentice,” to serve as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his second term.
“With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role,” Trump said of his longtime friend in a statement shared on his Truth Social platform.
“Mark will work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges,” Trump wrote.
“The Apprentice,” of course, was the NBC reality show that launched Trump’s name and brand from the New York regional tabloid scene to national and international fame when its first season debuted in 2004.
Burnett is credited with burnishing the flaws in Trump’s public image by downplaying his various failed business ventures and playing up his real estate holdings, so the network could present him as an icon of American capitalist achievement.
Stephen Shugerman via Getty Images
At the time, Burnett had already been instrumental to the launch of the “Survivor” franchise in 2000. He went on to create the hit entrepreneurial show “Shark Tank” — which formerly starred billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, one of Trump’s most high-profile detractors — and produced other hits like “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”
Yet the reality TV mogul has been mostly quiet about his relationship with Trump in the time since he kicked off his 2016 presidential campaign.
In the weeks before that year’s election, Burnett endured a public roasting during late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue at the 2016 Emmys.
“Television brings people together. But television can also tear us apart. I mean, if it wasn’t for television, would Donald Trump be running for president? No,” Kimmel said before pinning the blame directly on Burnett, who was shown laughing in the audience.
“We don’t have to watch reality shows anymore, because we’re living in one. Thank you, Mark,” said an unsmiling Kimmel.
Just weeks later, Burnett was moved to issue a statement claiming that he never supported Trump’s presidential aspirations.
“I am not now and have never been a supporter of Donald Trump’s candidacy. I am NOT ‘Pro-Trump,’” Burnett said in October 2016. “Further, my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign.”
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The statement came days after Trump was revealed to have bragged that to be a celebrity meant you were free to grab women “by the pussy.”
The diplomatic gig seems to indicate that Burnett and Trump have mended fences.