Nation/World

A new 'Apprentice' role for Trump opens door wide for questions

President-elect Donald Trump is entering office with financial entanglements that are exotic and far-flung: a condominium in Manila, a luxury furniture maker in Istanbul, golf courses in Scotland and Ireland, and a hotel in Azerbaijan.

But starting next month, Trump's most visible business interest will be beamed directly into millions of U.S. living rooms: "The Celebrity Apprentice" is back, and the president-elect is coming with it.

Just weeks before Inauguration Day, Trump will resume his role as an executive producer of the NBC reality show, an unlikely side project for a commander in chief, and one that is poised to bring him hundreds of thousands of dollars in income.

Modern presidents, including the current one, have received royalties from sales of memoirs and book projects. But Trump's ties to the show — now starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and renamed "The New Celebrity Apprentice" — potentially thrusts the president-elect into a host of potential conflicts, from coziness with the brands that advertise on the show to his relationship with the network that airs it.

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"I think it's weird," said Newt Gingrich, a close campaign ally of Trump, holding back chuckles during a Fox News interview. "Donald J. Trump is going to be the executive producer of a thing called the American government. He is going to have this huge TV show called 'Leading the World.'"

Added Gingrich: "I think he's still going through some transition things here, where it hasn't quite sunk in."

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Schwarzenegger, in Los Angeles Friday to promote the show, faced a battery of questions about Trump's involvement, saying that the situation was "no different" from when he collected film royalties while he was California's governor. At times, the action star appeared annoyed. "It's great when you guys venture out and try to write about politics," he told a group of entertainment reporters.

The president-elect has long held a financial stake in "The Apprentice" franchise. His original contract in 2003 with Mark Burnett, the show's creator, promised Trump as much as 50 percent of the show's gross receipts after costs, and 20 percent from other versions of the show, like international editions, according to a copy of the contract obtained by The New York Times.

The 2003 contract included a promise that "in no event shall the program be used in any way that denigrates the name, image or reputation of Donald J. Trump," although it is unclear which provisions of the contract still apply.

It is common Hollywood practice for key personnel on a television show to retain producing credits even after they leave a series, as Trump did in 2015 when he began his presidential bid. Trump's role in the new "Apprentice" season, which finished filming in March, is widely considered a passive one.

His stake in the show's profits, however, remains active, according to Trump's spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, who described Trump on Friday as "a part owner." In past seasons, Trump also received a cut of advertising partnerships with brands like Chrysler, which sponsored segments on the show.

The exact terms of Trump's deal for "The New Celebrity Apprentice" remain unclear; Burnett's studio, MGM, declined repeated requests this week to elaborate. Burnett was scheduled to take questions at Friday's promotional event, but he did not show up.

A financial disclosure form filed by Trump showed that the company he associates with "The Apprentice," Trump Productions, earned about $5.9 million from January 2015 to May 2016. As the host, Trump received appearance fees that he will no longer collect now that Schwarzenegger is the star.

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As NBC reintroduces one of its more popular prime-time shows, the public curiosity over Trump's continuing role could prove challenging.

Network executives did not expect Trump to be president-elect when "The New Celebrity Apprentice" premiered. They also did not anticipate that Trump would be accused during the campaign by multiple women of sexual assault — allegations similar to ones faced by Schwarzenegger when he ran for California governor in 2003.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there's a hashtag, #BoycottTheApprentice, on Twitter as we get closer to the premiere," said Preston Beckman, a former top executive at NBC and Fox. "The most significant action that people who feel uncomfortable with this can take is just to not watch the show."

NBC's parent company, Comcast, is a media conglomerate regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, which Trump will now oversee. And sponsors of the show's new season — including Carnival Cruise Line and Welch's — may have their own priorities in Washington.

"My concern is that if NBC is possibly going to cancel the show because of ratings, they might have second thoughts because of the FCC and other agencies he controls," said Robert M. Stern, former president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, which focuses on ethics reform.

Stern noted that government agencies would be regulating a variety of businesses owned by Comcast. If executives were to interfere with the "Apprentice," he said, they might wonder, "What would the president do to us? Or what would his FCC do to us?"

NBC nurtured Trump's celebrity during the 11 years that he was one of the network's stars. But executives there insist the president-elect's ongoing involvement in the "Apprentice" poses no conflict, saying that Trump will be paid by MGM, which produces the show, and not NBC.

They also cite a separation between their news and entertainment divisions, and point to signs that the network would not necessarily be cowed. Its late-night shows routinely mock the president-elect, with Trump recently engaging in a Twitter tiff with "Saturday Night Live" over its impersonation of him by actor Alec Baldwin.

A senior adviser to Trump, Kellyanne Conway, suggested Friday that the president-elect could waive his revenue from the new "Apprentice" season, although she said he had not yet decided.

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"Presidents have a right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time," Conway said on CNN, comparing Trump's participation in the series to President Barack Obama's golf outings. "Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course of the current president?" she asked.

Schwarzenegger, for his part, deflected questions on whether the contentious election could depress the show's ratings, saying "campaigns are always divisive." He said he had known Trump for many years and had spoken with him twice since Election Day. He said he did not wish to judge Trump's transition after just a month.

In stepping into Trump's shoes, Schwarzenegger said, his goal was simple: "I want my ratings a little higher than his."

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