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.
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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.
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