Trump taps TV’s Apprentice producer Mark Burnett as special envoy to the UK

West Palm Beach: Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a national television audience with The Apprentice, is being tapped by the president-elect as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.

“With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role,” Trump announced on Saturday (US time).

Then-president Donald Trump talks with television producer Mark Burnett at a Washington breakfast in 2017.Credit: AP

Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits such as Survivor and The Voice, but is perhaps best known for teaming with Trump for The Apprentice, which first aired on NBC in 2004.

Trump had been well-known in real estate and pop culture circles for decades. But the show helped again make him a household name, though Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the same year he launched his first White House run.

Burnett’s selection continues Trump’s trend of filling out his incoming administration with people who have high-profile backgrounds in television or politics, or both – including his choice to be defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, and Mehmet Oz, an ex-television doctor and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, who has been appointed to oversee Medicare.

Trump’s first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on The Apprentice and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a “star”.

Burnett accepts the award for best reality show for The Voice at the 2016 Critics’ Choice Awards.Credit: AP

Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role, Trump’s television career remains central to his biography and political rise. The Apprentice presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first presidential campaign from the building’s lobby.

“Mark is known for creating and producing some of the biggest shows in television history,” Trump wrote in his statement about Burnett, listing many of his biggest hits, “most notably, The Apprentice”, and noting that Burnett “has won 13 Emmy Awards!”

Special envoys are usually picked by presidents for the world’s traditional hotspots, including the Middle East, where Trump has already said he’d like real estate investor Steven Witkoff to fill the role. The United Kingdom, which has long enjoyed a “special relationship” with the US that makes it one of Washington’s strongest global allies, is not typically a candidate for such posts.

Trump hosted The Apprentice from 2004 to 2015.Credit: Chris Pizzello

But Trump has announced a series of special envoy positions to several top loyalists ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20, including his former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, who he chose as envoy for special missions.

That announcement came after Adam Boehler’s appointment as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, and Keith Kellogg to serve as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

The president-elect said Burnett “will work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges”.

AP

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