Mark Burnett, the facility producer who helped reintroduce President-elect Donald Trump to a nationwide tv viewers with “The Apprentice,” is being tapped by the president-elect to the newly-created put up of particular envoy to the UK in his upcoming administration.
Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like “Survivor” and “The Voice,” however is probably greatest recognized 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. However the present helped once more make him a family title — although Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the identical 12 months he launched his first White Home run.
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A supply acquainted with the choice advised CBS Information that Burnett was initially on the checklist for consideration as U.S. ambassador to the U.Okay., however as a twin nationwide, that made the scenario sophisticated. That choice in the end went to Republican donor Warren Stephens, CEO of funding financial institution Stephens Inc.
It’s unclear precisely what Burnett’s envoy function will encompass.
“With a distinguished profession in tv manufacturing and enterprise, Mark brings a novel mix of diplomatic acumen and worldwide recognition to this necessary function,” Trump introduced Saturday.
The number of Burnett continues Trump’s development 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 & Pals 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 stated he may sexually assault girls and get away with it as a result of he was a “star.”
Nearly a decade after he left his actuality TV function, 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 a logo of energy and success earlier than Trump launched his first marketing campaign from the constructing’s foyer.
“Mark is thought for creating and producing a few of the greatest reveals in Tv Historical past,” Trump wrote in his assertion on Burnett, itemizing a lot of his greatest hits earlier than including, “most notably, ‘The Apprentice'” and noting that Burnett “has gained 13 Emmy Awards!”
Particular envoys are normally picked by presidents for the world’s conventional hotspots, together with the Center East — the place Trump has already stated he’d like Steven Witkoff to fill the function. The UK, which has lengthy loved a “particular relationship” with the U.S. that makes it one in every of Washington’s strongest world allies, will not be sometimes a candidate for such posts.
However 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.
The president-elect stated Burnett “will work to reinforce diplomatic relations, specializing in areas of mutual curiosity, together with commerce, funding alternatives, and cultural exchanges.”
