The Apprentice insiders reveal wild details about how they transformed Trump into TV royalty – including shocking truth about his ‘stinky’ office and diva antics

Producers and industry insiders who worked with Donald Trump during his reality TV heyday claim his billionaire mogul persona was carefully curated for The Apprentice. 

That is according to a bombshell report from The New York Times, who spoke with a number of producers who admitted Trump was nothing like the successful, hands-on entrepreneur seen on screens. 

Trump was picked by show creator Mark Burnett at the age of 57 to star in The Apprentice in 2003, primarily because he was a household name thanks to being a tabloid star through the 1990s. 

But insiders said that the smoke-and-mirrors surrounding Trump’s empire was apparent from the start, when producers visited Trump Tower to scout it as a shooting location only to be left less than impressed. 

When the team of producers visited Trump Tower in the summer of 2003, the report claims they were met with a ‘stench’ filling the Manhattan skyscraper’s upper levels where Trump worked. 

Behind the scenes, insiders claimed Trump played almost no role in The Apprentice and only derailed it with his antics 

The producers reportedly found wooden desks covered in chips, musky carpets and fewer than 50 people working in the Trump Organization headquarters. 

‘When you go into the office and you’re hearing “billionaire,” even “recovering billionaire,” you don’t expect to see chipped furniture, you don’t expect to smell carpet that needs to be refreshed in the worst, worst way,’ recalled one of the show’s producers, Bill Pruitt. 

While claiming to be New York City’s most successful real estate developer, Trump was re-emerging from a turbulent decade that had seen him declare bankruptcy on a number of his empire’s offshoot businesses. 

He faced financial collapse after his Atlantic City casinos struggled, alongside stalled plans to open more golf courses and skyscrapers across America that were hemorrhaging money. 

But despite this lack of progress – which would reverse course in subsequent years as Trump’s own personal brand soared – the businessman would quickly land on America’s screens as a high-flying billionaire. 

Trump was handpicked to lead The Apprentice by showrunner Mark Burnett (pictured together), primarily because he was a household name thanks to being a tabloid star through the 1990s

When a team of producers visited Trump Tower in the summer of 2003, it is claimed they were met with a ‘stench’ filling the Manhattan skyscraper that left them less than impressed 

For Burnett – who reportedly approached other moguls including Warren Buffett and Richard Branson before deciding on Trump as his star – this transformation was carried out almost entirely without Trump’s input, according to insiders. 

Network executives carried out the day-to-day handling of The Apprentice, and hired out a space in Trump Tower to create a fake boardroom where Trump would coin his famous catchphrase: ‘You’re fired!’ 

Thanks to his high name recognition and moniker plastered on buildings across America, all that was left was to rebrand Trump as a comeback king who had already overcome his down period, producers claim. 

‘Our job was to make him look legitimate, to make him look like there was something behind it, even though we pretty much all knew that there wasn’t — but that was our job,’ said producer Jonathan Braun to the New York Times. 

‘We weren’t making a documentary – Richard Attenborough was not narrating this. This was an entertainment prime-​time network show.’ 

Trump seen during the season finale of The Celebrity Apprentice in 2010 

Bill Pruitt, a producer on The Apprentice, said that when he entered Trump Tower for the first time in 2003 it was filled with ‘chipped furniture’ and ‘carpet that needs to be refreshed in the worst, worst way’ 

To reintroduce Trump to America, The Apprentice filmed an opening segment titled ‘Meet the Billionaire.’ 

The promo panned across the New York City skyline as Trump narrated how he overcame his crippling debt to become who he said he was. 

‘Manhattan is a tough place,’ Trump began the intro. ‘This island is the real jungle, if you’re not careful it can chew you up and spit you out. 

‘But if you work hard, you can really hit it big.’ 

Showing the apparent transformation of his success, the camera then panned across Trump’s struggling Atlantic City casinos as they lit up the night sky. 

The shot then showed an image of Trump Ice, a bottled water company that failed, and Trump Place, an apartment building that only bore his name but was not run by the Trump Organization. 

He continued in the narration: ‘But it wasn’t always so easy. 

‘About 13 years ago, I was seriously in trouble. I was billions of dollars in debt. But I fought back, and I won, big league. I used my brain. I used my negotiating skills, and I worked it all out. Now my company is bigger than it ever was. 

‘It’s stronger than it ever was. And I’m having more fun than I ever had. I’ve mastered the art of the deal, and I’ve turned the name Trump into the highest-​quality brand.’ 

During his early career, Trump (pictured in 1981) became shackled by debt, but he bragged in his re-introduction on The Apprentice that he ‘mastered the art of the deal’ to rebuild his fortune

Trump pictured with contestant David Gould, who he abruptly fired in the first season in a move that stunned producers 

It is no secret that Trump catapulted from The Apprentice to rebuild his celebrity billionaire image before  his presidential ambitions took hold. 

And while his business instincts may have left some insiders baffled, Trump’s bombastic style was said to have finally found its place when he hosted reality TV. 

Editors said he played almost no role in the show’s running, but would show up when needed to add drama and draw eyeballs. 

‘We were making him out to be royalty in almost every opportunity,’ Pruitt said. ‘It was our mission to make sure that everybody watching understood that to work for him would be a big deal.’ 

This shone through early in the first season, when contestant David Gould – the producer’s favorite as he was an MD and venture capitalist – was abruptly fired by Trump in the very first episode. 

It is no secret that Trump catapulted from The Apprentice to rebuild his celebrity billionaire image, which went on to be the foundations for his presidential ambitions

Although one of Gould’s other contestants was seen as likely to be ‘fired’ after they bungled a lemonade stand challenge by tried and failed to sell one cup for $1,000, Trump decided to fire Gould instead, seemingly on a whim. 

While showrunners were stunned, producer Katherine Walker admitted: ‘Right then, we knew that we had a show, because this is not what you expected.’ 

While recklessness and unpredictability are hardly seen as good qualities in business, they were perfect for capturing headlines and viewers to The Apprentice.  

One producer said that because Trump was not involved in contestant’s efforts, he would consistently ‘fire the absolute wrong person’, as he ‘had no idea what was going on, and he would just make something up.’ 

If the person he chose to fire could have made Trump look like a bad decision maker, editors would step in to help his image, they said. 

‘Our job then was to reverse engineer the show and to make him not look like a complete moron,’ said Braun, adding that they would go back to edit the losing contestant ‘to make the person who he fired look not as good.’