Day 1,022: Reports: Trump dreaming about being back on reality TV

Perhaps no one was more surprised to see Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential race than Donald Trump himself. After the election, numerous stories described Trump as shocked and having a litany of post-election plans he would have to shelve.

In the three years since, it seems he still has little interest in the position. He spends an inordinate time playing golf, watching TV and generally avoiding as much work as possible. It seems, on the TV point, unsatisfied with the constant news coverage, he wants to be back on it like he was before he began campaigning. According to reports, Trump is salivating at the prospect of returning to reality TV after his time in office.

According to three people with knowledge of the situation and another source close to Trump, Apprentice creator Mark Burnett and the president have sporadically kept in touch, mostly over the phone, since Trump won the election. The pair remain friends, these sources say, and have discussed reviving their creative partnership, pitching each other details on potential TV projects to be filmed after the Trump presidency.

One of the ideas kicked around by Burnett and the president was shooting a new version of the Trump-branded Apprentice, tentatively titled The Apprentice: White House, and to produce it shortly after the president leaves office. This time, however, the TV program would be explicitly politics-themed and take full advantage of Trump’s status as a former president of the United States and a newfound Republican kingmaker.

Only Trump would take the most powerful post in the world and daydream of being on reality TV while sitting in the Oval Office. He is aspiring to avoid being president to play a fake character on TV. In many ways it makes sense for Trump: TV is easier, requires less time and attention, and he is given direction on what to do and say.

1,022 days in, 440 to go

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