WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to nationwide tv audiences with “The Apprentice,” has been tapped by the president-elect to be a particular envoy to the United Kingdom in his subsequent administration.
“With a distinguished profession in tv manufacturing and enterprise, Mark brings a singular mix of diplomatic acumen and worldwide recognition to this vital function,” Trump introduced Saturday.
London-born Burnett has helped produce hits like “Survivor” and “The Voice,” however is maybe finest identified for teaming with Trump on “The Apprentice,” which first aired on NBC in 2004.
Trump had been identified in actual property and popular culture circles for many years. But the present helped make him a family title once more, at the same time as Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the identical yr he launched his first run for the White House.
Burnett’s choice continues Trump’s pattern of filling his new administration with individuals who have high-profile backgrounds in tv or politics, or each, together with his decide to develop into protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, former co-host of “Fox & Friends”. Weekend,” and former TV physician and unsuccessful Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz.
Trump’s first marketing campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on “The Apprentice” and different appearances throughout his time with NBC, notably in clips through which he claimed he might sexually assault girls and get away with it as a result of he was a “star”. “
Nearly a decade after leaving his actuality TV function, Trump’s tv profession stays central to his biography and political rise. The present launched Trump Tower to tens of hundreds of 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 understood for creating and producing a few of the best packages within the historical past of tv,” Trump wrote in his assertion about Burnett, itemizing lots of her best hits earlier than including, “most notably, ‘The Apprentice'” and noting that Burnett “has received 13 Emmy Awards!”
Later on Saturday, Trump introduced in a separate assertion that he would decide on line casino magnate Tilman Fertitta as his decide for U.S. ambassador to Italy.
Burnett, in the meantime, might be a particular envoy, posts often held by presidents for the world’s conventional scorching spots, together with the Middle East – the place Trump has already mentioned he would love Steven Witkoff to fill the function. The UK, which has lengthy loved a “particular relationship” with the United States that makes it one among Washington’s strongest world allies, will not be sometimes a candidate for such posts.
But Trump introduced a collection of particular envoy assignments to a number of outstanding loyalists forward of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, together with his former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell who he selected as an envoy for particular missions. This announcement joins earlier ones, together with Adam Boehler as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and Keith Kellogg as Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Trump had already introduced on December 2 that he would select a billionaire funding banker Warren Stephens for the extra customary function of American ambassador to Britain. That might elevate questions on how a U.Okay. particular envoy would possibly overlap with duties, however the president-elect mentioned in his assertion that Burnett “will work to enhance diplomatic relations, specializing in areas of mutual curiosity, together with commerce, funding alternatives and cultural exchanges. “
