Report: Donald Trump Will Remain As ‘Apprentice’ Executive Producer

Donald Trump, host of the television series "The Celebrity Apprentice," mugs for photographers at the NBCUniversal 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington Hotel on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, in Pasadena, Cal... Donald Trump, host of the television series "The Celebrity Apprentice," mugs for photographers at the NBCUniversal 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington Hotel on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) MORE LESS
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Donald Trump will remain an executive producer on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” even after he takes office as president.

Variety reported Thursday that Trump would retain his executive producer credit on the show—renamed “The New Celebrity Apprentice”—as it enters its 15th season, even as he is replaced as its host by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The first episode of the show is slated to air on Jan. 2, and NBC has ordered eight episodes total, according to Variety.

Trump’s name will appear above Schwarzenegger’s and after creator Mark Burnett’s in the credits, according to Variety. Representatives for MGM, who would be responsible for paying Trump as a producer, did not respond to Variety’s requests for comment, nor did representatives from NBC or Trump.

It is unclear how the money Trump receives from the show will be handled, Variety reports:

The larger issue for MGM, NBC, and the White House is the payment that Trump will receive for the series. It’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 “The New Celebrity Apprentice.” Trump’s fees will be paid through MGM, the production entity on the show, not NBC. …

Trump is also a profit participant on the “Apprentice” franchise, which has been sold as a format in various markets around the world since it first became a hit on NBC in 2004

The last episode of the show in which Trump played host aired in February 2015, five months before NBC claimed to have cut ties with Trump after he said undocumented immigrants were criminals and rapists in a speech announcing his bid for the presidency.

In late November, Trump wrote on Twitter that he planned to leave his business interests “in total” as president, leaving his children to control of day-to-day operations. On Thursday, the New York Times reported that Trump wanted to keep an ownership stake in his company.

Though Burnett distanced himself from Trump during the campaign, he reportedly spoke with Trump about his inauguration plans on Wednesday, and specifically about the possibility that Trump descend into Washington, D.C., in a helicopter after leaving a parade in his honor in New York City.

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