Donald Trump/TV fantasy

Donald Trump's popularity is at least partly a "reality TV" fantasy

About

It seems very likely that much of Donald Trump's popularity – especially the widespread perception that he was ever a good businessman – derived from his starring role in the "reality TV" show The Apprentice. According to former NBC executive John D. Miller, Trump's appearances were carefully edited to make him appear far more competent and coherent than he actually was – and informal interviews with Trump supporters appear to confirm that many people perceived the show as depicting reality, rather than being a narrative crafted entirely for entertainment purposes (in order to be popular, and therefore profitable to NBC).

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News

• 2025/03/10 13:21 UTC [L..T] Amazon to begin streaming Trump's 'The Apprentice' «Amazon has announced it will begin streaming "The Apprentice" – the reality TV show famous for boosting Donald Trump's profile – on its Prime Video service on Monday.» [...] «The show's executive producer, Mark Burnett, remains one of his closest allies. [/] Burnett, the British producer behind "The Apprentice," as well as "Survivor" and "Shark Tank," was appointed special envoy to the United Kingdom in December. [/] "'The Apprentice' is one of the best shows that I ever produced. The charismatic onscreen presence of President Donald J. Trump made it a bona fide hit!" Burnett said in a press release.»
• 2024/10/29 20:54 UTC [L..T] Former 'Apprentice' Executive Says He Regrets Mythologizing Trump «"He didn’t have a real company" at the time the show premiered in 2004, Miller said. "It was basically a loose collection of LLCs. They'd been bankrupt four times and twice more when we were filming the show. The Apprentice helped him survive that. People thought he would be a good president because I made him seem like a legitimate businessman."»
• 2024/10/18 04:41 UTC [L..T] NBC exec apologizes for creating a 'monster' by embellishing Trump's business success for 'The Apprentice' «A former NBC executive has apologized to Americans for creating a "monster" in Donald Trump via the hit show The Apprentice. [/] "I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster," John D. Miller penned in an op-ed for US News and World Report. [/] Miller spent 25 years running marketing for NBC and NBCUniversal and promoted the reality show that pushed Trump into superstardom.»
• 2024/10/17 [L..T] Ex-'Apprentice' marketing exec apologizes for promoting Trump: 'I helped create a monster' «A former NBC marketing executive who promoted "The Apprentice" is issuing an apology to America, saying he "helped create a monster" by casting former President Trump, at the time a New York real estate developer, as a "super-successful businessman."»
• 2024/10/16 [L..T] We Created a Monster: Trump Was a TV Fantasy Invented for 'The Apprentice' «To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was. [/] In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.»