Mark Burnett, the ability producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a nationwide tv viewers with “The Apprentice,” is being tapped by the president-elect as particular envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.
“With a distinguished profession in tv manufacturing and enterprise, Mark brings a novel mix of diplomatic acumen and worldwide recognition to this necessary position,” Trump introduced Saturday.
Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like “Survivor” and “The Voice,” however is maybe greatest identified for teaming up with Trump for “The Apprentice,” which first aired on NBC in 2004.
Trump had been well-known in actual property and popular culture circles for many years. But the present helped once more make him a family identify — although Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the identical yr he launched his first White House run.
The choice of Burnett continues Trump’s pattern of filling out his incoming administration with individuals who have high-profile backgrounds in tv or politics, or each — together with his option to be protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and ex-television physician and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz.
Trump’s first marketing campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on “The Apprentice” and different appearances throughout his affiliation with NBC, notably in footage during which he mentioned he may sexually assault ladies and get away with it as a result of he was a “star.”
Almost a decade after he left his actuality TV position, Trump’s tv profession stays central to his biography and political rise. The present introduced Trump Tower to tens of thousands and thousands of individuals as an emblem of energy and success earlier than Trump launched his first marketing campaign from the constructing’s foyer.
“Mark is thought for creating and producing among the largest exhibits in Television History,” Trump wrote in his assertion on Burnett, itemizing a lot of his largest hits earlier than including, “most notably, ‘The Apprentice'” and noting that Burnett “has gained 13 Emmy Awards!”
Later Saturday, Trump introduced in a separate assertion that he was choosing on line casino magnate Tilman Fertitta as his option to be U.S. ambassador to Italy.
Burnett, in the meantime, can be a particular envoy, posts normally crammed by presidents for the world’s conventional hotspots, together with the Middle East — the place Trump has already mentioned he’d like Steven Witkoff to fill the position. The United Kingdom, which has lengthy loved a “particular relationship” with the U.S. that makes it considered one of Washington’s strongest world allies, just isn’t sometimes a candidate for such posts.
But Trump has introduced a sequence of particular envoy positions to a number of prime loyalists forward of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, together with his former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell who he selected as envoy for particular missions. That announcement joined earlier ones together with Adam Boehler as particular presidential envoy for hostage affairs, and Keith Kellogg to function particular envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Trump beforehand introduced on Dec. 2 that he was choosing billionaire funding banker Warren Stephens for the extra commonplace position of U.S. ambassador to Britain. That may increase questions on how a particular U.Ok. envoy may overlap duties, however the president-elect mentioned in his assertion that Burnett “will work to reinforce diplomatic relations, specializing in areas of mutual curiosity, together with commerce, funding alternatives, and cultural exchanges.”
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is guardian of NBC and CNBC.
