US President Donald Trump said he was aware Amazon.com is considering a reboot of his hit reality show The Apprentice, with his eldest son potentially taking on the host role.
“Well, I’ve been hearing it,” Mr Trump said when asked on April 30 about the show possibly returning. “Look, we had a great success – 14 seasons – and The Apprentice was a tremendous success. I’ve been hearing that, little bit.”
“We’ll see what happens. Yeah, they told me about it. We’ll see,” Mr Trump added, without specifying who had informed him about the potential project.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is in early discussions for a potential reboot of the show, citing people familiar with the matter. Executives have discussed casting Mr Donald Trump Jr. as the new host, according to the Journal, which noted that the discussions were still in an early phase and that the company had not approached the President’s family.
“He’s a good guy,” Mr Trump said of his son. “Got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that.”
If the show is green-lit, it would appear on Amazon’s Prime Video service, according to the report.
Mr Trump built up his national profile as a host of NBC’s The Apprentice, a reality show in which contestants vied to demonstrate their business acumen and win a job working for the real estate mogul. He also hosted a spin-off show, The Celebrity Apprentice.
If the show returned with the Trump son as host, it would not be the first Amazon entertainment endeavour involving and enriching the President’s family. Amazon’s MGM Studios distributed ‘Melania’, a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.
Amazon and the White House hosted a Jan 29 premiere at the Kennedy Center and the First Lady also rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to help promote the film.
Some critics assailed the film, casting it as an effort by a major tech company to curry favour with the President. BLOOMBERG
