![\"\u201cCelebrity](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f0b6db261250d608f494cf2ca2f5cbbbb2-30-trump-apprentice.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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\n Donald Trump, Don Jr., and several Celebrity Apprentice contestants in 2012.
\n Photo: Desiree Navarro\/WireImage\n <\/p>\n
We live in an age of reboots. Everything from He-Man<\/a> to Bewitched<\/a> to Prison Break<\/a> has a new version coming soon. Our society\u2019s apparently insatiable desire for recycled content is just about the only logical explanation for Amazon considering a reboot of The Apprentice, the reality-TV show that arguably put Donald Trump<\/a> in the White House.<\/p>\n To be clear, we\u2019re a good way off from Amazon rebuilding its TV studio in Trump Tower. The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> today that executives are merely \u201cdiscussing\u201d the idea of bringing back the show Trump hosted for 14 seasons on NBC with his son Don Jr.<\/a> as host. They haven\u2019t actually pitched any of this to the Trump family (unless you consider floating the idea in the Journal a pitch):<\/p>\n People familiar with the matter said that executives at Amazon internally have discussed casting someone very close to President\u00a0Trump\u00a0as the host if they were to move ahead with filming new episodes: his oldest son\u00a0Donald Trump Jr.\u00a0Discussions are still in the early stages and Amazon hasn\u2019t approached the Trump family, but if the show gets made, it would appear on Amazon\u2019s Prime Video service.\u00a0<\/p>\n An Amazon spokesman told the paper that the show isn\u2019t in active development and no potential host has been selected. It just has the rights to the president\u2019s former TV show burning a hole in its pockets. \u201cSince our acquisition of MGM, we have had preliminary internal discussions about what\u2019s next for The Apprentice as a property,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n What\u2019s perplexing here is that no one really needs this. Sure, Donald Trump never passes up a moneymaking opportunity even if it involves selling goofy NFTs<\/a> or rebranding Bibles<\/a>. But he\u2019s already making a good amount of money off reruns of The Apprentice without the hassle of creating new content, as The Hollywood Reporter discovered<\/a>:<\/p>\n According to a copy of Trump\u2019s financial disclosures, which were viewed by\u00a0THR, the show still generates six figures of annual income for him, with royalties of between $100,000 and $1,000,000 in 2024. That figure does not include the value of the show itself, which Trump\u2019s form says is \u201cnot readily ascertainable.\u201d<\/p>\n Does Don Jr. need to bolster his brand? As First Son he already has excellent name recognition. Is hosting a derivative Amazon Prime reality show really going to help him in a way that his podcast<\/a>, robust social-media presence<\/a>, frequent appearances in conservative media, and existing lifestyle brand<\/a> can\u2019t?<\/p>\n You could chalk this up to Amazon kissing up to the Trump administration, but it seems like overkill. Amazon MGM already spent an eye-watering amount of money on the Melania documentary<\/a>. While the film grossed a better-than-expected $16.6 million in theaters, Amazon reportedly paid $40 million for the film and spent another $35 million promoting it. And as the Journal notes, Jeff Bezos<\/a> has done plenty of Trump groveling himself:<\/p>\n Bezos, who retired as CEO of Amazon in 2021 but remains executive chairman, has developed closer ties with Trump in his second administration. Amazon contributed $1 million to Trump\u2019s 2025 inauguration, with Bezos attending the swearing in and events around it. Heading into the election, Bezos killed the Washington Post\u2019s endorsement of Vice President\u00a0Kamala Harris\u00a0for president. Bezos bought the newspaper in 2013.<\/p>\n This week Bezos was among the guests mingling with Trump at a White House state dinner honoring King Charles III.<\/p>\n So maybe Amazon executives just think a reboot of The Apprentice could be profitable? The Journal noted that Amazon has been looking for ways to lure Trump voters:<\/p>\n Rebooting \u201cThe Apprentice\u201d would fit into Amazon\u2019s push to appeal to broader audiences as it competes with\u00a0Netflix\u00a0and others for viewers. For example, Hopkins has been pushing for more faith-based programming to differentiate Prime Video, according to former executives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Hopkins, Amazon partnered with Wonder Project, an independent studio that produces religious content, and released its \u201cHouse of David\u201d series about the biblical figure. Amazon also launched Wonder\u2019s faith-based streaming service last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Years before greenlighting the \u201cMelania\u201d documentary, Amazon executives explored other programming that could appeal to Trump voters. Some of them discussed making a documentary following Trump\u2019s first inauguration, according to former employees. Ultimately Amazon didn\u2019t make that film.<\/p>\n Perhaps what we\u2019re seeing here is a lack of imagination from Amazon executives. Someone asked, \u201cHey, how can we appeal to people who love Donald Trump?\u201d and all they came up with was \u201cmore of Donald Trump\u2019s successful TV show\u201d?<\/p>\n Might some MAGA types tune in for a Don Jr.\u2013hosted version of The Apprentice? Sure. But it\u2019s hard to see the reboot convincing droves of new subscribers to fork over $139 per year for Prime, when the entire nation is already living in Donald Trump\u2019s reality show for free.<\/p>\n