Apprentice will have a president on the payroll

He may be the future president of the U.S., but Donald Trump still has a few other priorities in mind. Namely, The Apprentice, his longrunning NBC reality competition series.

Once Trump officially launched his presidential campaign in June 2015, NBC passed off hosting duties to Arnold Schwarzenegger. But it looks like Trump isn’t done with the series just yet.

According to Variety, he’ll be staying on as an executive producer of the series, which will return with its 15th season on Jan. 2 after a two-year hiatus.

“Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with (creator) Mark Burnett,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement, adding that he is still maintaining a significant “financial interest” in the show.

While his per-episode fee hasn’t been confirmed, Variety is reporting that “it is likely to be in the low five figures, at minimum.” And as of now, NBC has ordered eight episodes of the new season, now dubbed The New Celebrity Apprentice. Trump’s fees will be paid through MGM, the production entity on the show, not NBC, which will be juggling quite the conflict of interest with a president on the payroll.

Kellyanne Conway defended Trump’s TV plans on CNN on Friday, saying, “Well, he’s a very transparent guy. Everyone can see what he’s doing. The fact is, he is conferring with all kinds of experts to tell him what he is allowed to do and not to do as the president of the United States. And if this is one of the approved activities, then perhaps he’ll consider staying on.”

When asked whether his role on the series might conflict with his role as president, she said, “Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course of the current president? I mean presidents have a right to do things in their spare time, in their leisure time.”

“Whether it’s President Obama or president Donald Trump, the idea that these men are going to be all work and nothing else all the time is just unrealistic because it’s never happened in our lifetimes,” Conway added.

More details of Trump’s involvement will likely be revealed during a news conference on Thursday on his plans for separating himself from his business interests. In addition, the series will host a press event in Los Angeles on Friday with Schwarzenegger and Burnett.