How Trump rode reality TV fame to a bid for WH
Kelly to interview Republican frontrunner
LOS ANGELES, April 27, (RTRS): Donald Trump’s journey to becoming the Republican frontrunner for the presidential nomination began in earnest on Jan 8, 2004 — the night “The Apprentice” premiered on NBC.
True, the real estate mogul had been a media darling for 20-plus years before he teamed with producer Mark Burnett on the business competition series. From the early ’80s, Trump was a fixture in the New York media firmament. His excesses, his love life and his personal boom-and-bust cycles have long been fodder for the tabloids, as well as the tonier pages of Vanity Fair and other high-brow publications.
Trump often raised the stakes in his business dealings by orchestrating press conferences that made for great copy. His running feud with Ed Koch became a spectator sport for most of the New York mayor’s years in office.
Cemented
But Trump’s image to the vast expanse of the American electorate was cemented by “The Apprentice” more than anything else. The reality show was the perfect controlled environment for Trump to strut his tough-talking brashness and noholds-barred bravado in front of a fairly worshipful group.
The show, in which 16 contestants competed for the grand prize of a yearlong job with the Trump Organization, was an overnight success for NBC and a windfall for Trump.
“The Apprentice” not only made him a hugely important star for the network, it loosed a torrent of Trump-branded products, from bottled water to steaks to the Trump University venture now at the center of a contentious lawsuit.
Trump’s experience in front of the camera on 14 seasons of “The Apprentice” and its successor, “Celebrity Apprentice,” undoubtedly has helped him in his current starring role in politics.
Those who were present at the show’s inception say Trump came to the set of “The Apprentice” camera-ready. He needed little coaching in the technical details of hitting a mark, delivering a line and interacting with contestants.
“The Apprentice” was designed to star a different business leader each season. But with Trump, the show scored big ratings out of the gate. Courtesy of NBC
Eden Gaha, who was showrunner of “Celebrity Apprentice” for four seasons, calls Trump “a one-take wonder . ... He could look at a task-sheet for maybe a minute and almost word for word perfectly deliver it in one take,” says Gaha, now president of unscripted TV at Endemol Shine North America. “He’s blessed with a very good memory. He was always a total pro and terrific to work with.”
He was, by many accounts, a natural, particularly in the closing act’s boardroom sequence, where he would famously deliver the “You’re fired” verdict to one contestant each week.
Trump mastered the art of reality TV in a veritable nanosecond because he channeled his storied ambition into becoming a TV star. Those who’ve worked with him say it’s foolish to underestimate his drive to succeed.
“Here’s a guy that many people think is an idiot. He’s not,” says a longtime “Apprentice” producer. “Trust me, this guy had been working the media for 20 years before came along.”
In fact, Trump had sought to move into the role of reality TV host a few years earlier. “Billionaire,” which would have seen him challenging randomly selected people to spend $1 million in 30 minutes, drew a nibble from NBC in 2001. Show creator David Anson Russo recalls that Trump was great in the pitch meetings and was gracious to him even when the show failed to sell.
“He was pissed at NBC for passing,” Russo says. “He called Bob Wright directly.”
Russo first connected with Trump via a cold call to his office. Just before their first meeting at Trump Tower, Russo received sage advice from the mogul’s longtime assistant, Norma Foerderer. “She told me, ‘Don’t touch his hair, and only shake his hand if he shakes your hand,’ “he recalls.
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Megyn Kelly will interview presidential candidate Donald Trump as part of her upcoming primetime special on Fox Broadcasting, the network announced Monday.
The special, “Megyn Kelly Presents,” will air Tuesday, May 17. Additional excerpts from the interview will be featured the following night on Kelly’s Fox News show, “The Kelly File.”
Rumors that Trump would be interviewed for the special had circulated for weeks after the two met at Trump Tower in New York in April. Trump has lashed out at Kelly repeatedly throughout his presidential campaign, having initially taken issue with a tough line of questioning from Kelly in a GOP debate last fall over the real-estate mogul’s derogatory comments about women.