Author Ramin Setoodeh interviewed Donald Trump six times between May 2021 and November 2023 for his forthcoming book, and got fresh insights into Trump’s time on The Apprentice, his backstage dealings with producers, NBC bigwigs, and the contestants he lorded over. Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, out June 18, looks at Trump’s rise as a reality TV persona, not the commander-in-chief who came after, and offers a window into the Trump who was forged in Hollywood.
Here are the juiciest bits so far from the Variety editor in chief’s book, gleaned from an excerpt published in Vanity Fair and a recent review by McKay Coppins in The Atlantic:
Trump Claimed The Apprentice Topped Friends’ Ratings…
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With typical Trump bravado, the former president claimed that Season 1 of The Apprentice outperformed the final season of Friends during some weeks of its run. That isn’t exactly true, Setoodeh notes; Friends trounced The Apprentice overall that year, and the reality TV show only pulled ahead of the sitcom in ratings when it was up against reruns of the beloved show. But according to “Trump math,” a win is a win, even if the parameters aren’t exactly fair.
… So He Wanted the Friends Cast’s Salary—Combined
Trump also tried to leverage his “higher ratings” into a massive payday for season 2 of The Apprentice.
“Friends had six people,” Trump explained to Setoodeh. “They’re getting $1 million an episode each. That’s $6 million. So if they’re getting $6 million, and I have higher ratings than they do—because this is the end of Friends, and they were fading out—I said, ‘You should pay me $6 million an episode.’”
That ask, however, was too much for the producers, who were livid that Trump would even suggest a payout that high for a reality TV show in which he effectively played himself. “They went fucking crazy,” Trump said of the reaction. But he wasn’t done. Instead of backing down, he said he played reasonable, to see how much NBC was willing to give up.
“I said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do. Give me something less than six. If you’re paying Friends six, and I have higher ratings than Friends, you should pay me six! But give me something less than that. I’m reasonable!’” Trump recalled. Unfortunately for him, that strategy backfired—instead of a counteroffer in the millions, Trump got a phone call from NBC boss Jeff Zucker, who told him to cool it or get lost.
He Referred to Frenemy Jeff Zucker as ‘Human Scum’
Setoodeh describes former NBC executive Jeff Zucker as Trump’s biggest frenemy. Though Zucker was livid that Trump asked for a $6 million per episode deal for The Apprentice and threatened to replace him, Zucker ultimately brought Trump back and cemented him as the show’s star. The two repeatedly clashed in the years that followed, and by the time Setoodeh interviewed Trump, the former president was actively taking credit for getting “that son of a bitch” a job as president of CNN in 2012. Then, when CNN’s coverage of Trump got more critical as he inched closer and closer to the Republican nomination in 2016, Trump believed Zucker had betrayed him.
“I always said there’s no way he’s doing bad about me, and he did. Because a lot of people are scum,” Trump told Setoodeh. “He’s human scum.”
He Actually Hates the Kardashians
In his review of an advance copy of Setoodeh’s book, McKay Coppins writes that Trump tends to divide Hollywood based on their opinions of him. And though Trump once enjoyed friendly relations with the Kardashians, two of whom appeared on The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice, he kicked them to the curb once Kim Kardashian displayed apparent support for Joe Biden in the aftermath of the 2020 election by posting three blue heart emojis on Twitter.
“She went for Sleepy Joe! Which is incredible to me. Incredible, because I did something that was perhaps important to her,” Trump ranted to Setoodeh. He was referring to the early 2020 White House invitation he’d extended to her, when he pardoned a prisoner she championed as part of a criminal justice reform stint. “Maybe it was just publicity for her. I don’t know.”
Speaking of Kim’s sister Khloé, who was a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice, his feelings were somewhat less complex. “I never got along great with Khloé,” he said. “Khloé was arrested for drunk driving. Did you know that? I think it’s a terrible thing—so many people die with drunk driving. You don’t hear about it, but they do.” (Setoodeh’s interviews took place before Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts; Khloé Kardashian’s drunk driving arrest took place in 2007.)
Surprise! Black Apprentice Contestants Think Trump’s a Racist
Coppins’ review also describes how several contestants Setoodeh interviewed pointed to the racism that pervaded the show, which they believed stemmed from Trump’s own personal views. Tara Dowdell, a season 3 contestant, recalled to Setoodeh how producers tried to coach her into acting angry in interviews, believing they wanted her “to be a stereotype of a Black woman.” Randall Pinkett, the first Black winner of the show, told Setoodeh outright, “I think Donald’s a racist. And I think he consciously and unconsciously and deliberately cast Black people in a negative light.”
Trump—Again—Denied the Existence of the N-Word Tapes
Rumors that Trump dropped the N-word on the set of The Apprentice have swirled since 2018, when Omarosa wrote in her memoir that she had heard a tape of Trump saying it. Last week, former producer Bill Pruitt revived speculation of the tape’s existence and claimed to have personally heard Trump say the word, referring to Black season 1 finalist Kwame Jackson. Though Trump and producer Mark Burnett have both denied the existence of the tape, Setoodeh pressed Trump about it in at least one of his interviews and was met with a flat denial.
“Number one, it’s a word that I’ve never used. I’ve never used it in my life!” Trump fumed. “Would I use it when the mics are all hot? The mics were always hot.”
Surprise! Trump Was Also Gross to the Women on Set
Coppins writes that the book is full of examples of Trump grossly objectifying the female contestants on the reality show. After contestants were tasked with working with Home Depot for one episode, Setoodeh writes, rumors flew that Trump told one woman, “I’ll show you my nine-inch power tool.” (The woman, who later worked for Trump’s campaign, claimed it never happened.) In another instance, an ick-inducing example of “locker room talk,” Trump allegedly told male contestants how much he wanted to have sex with a 26-year-old female cast member who was a former beauty queen. That cast member later told Setoodeh that Trump had unexpectedly kissed her one day, and on another occasion invited her to his hotel room.
