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- President Donald Trump earned $427 million from his role on the TV show “The Apprentice,” according to a new report by The New York Times.
- Trump earned $197 million directly from appearing on the show between 2004 to 2015, and earned a further $230 million from licensing deals, the report said.
- The money handed him a financial lifeline and boosted his image as his other businesses lost money.
- Trump’s income from “The Apprentice” and licensing deals dropped considerably after 2011, from $51 million to less than $3 million in 2018.
- A White House spokesperson, Judd Deere, said the report was “fake news” and “another politically motivated hit piece full of inaccurate smears,” but didn’t dispute any specific facts.
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President Donald Trump earned $427 million from starring on reality TV show “The Apprentice,” handing him a financial boost as his other businesses lost money, according to a new report by The New York Times.
Trump earned $197 million directly from appearing on “The Apprentice” between 2004 and 2015 and earned a further $230 million from licensing deals, sponsorships, and seminars that followed his fame, tax records reviewed by the Times showed.
Trump’s income from “The Apprentice” and licensing deals reduced considerably after 2011, from $51 million to $21 million by 2014, and eventually to less than $3 million in 2018, the report said. He stopped appearing on the show in 2015, but still made money from it.
The cash injection from the show helped prop up his flagging finances — for example, he began purchasing golf courses in 2000 that have since accumulated $315.6 million in losses.
A White House spokesperson, Judd Deere, told The New York Times that the report was “fake news” and “another politically motivated hit piece full of inaccurate smears” timed “before a presidential debate,” but didn’t dispute any specific facts.
Trump entitled to half of "The Apprentice" profits
In 2004, the first year of "The Apprentice," Trump netted $11.9 million. In the following year, he made $47.8 million because of a deal that entitled him, as the star of the show, to half of its profits, the report said.
Over three years, Trump paid a total of $70.1 million in income taxes, which was refunded in 2010 after he offset the income against losses from his casinos. The refund is being audited by the IRS.
Before his 2004 debut in "The Apprentice," Trump earned $500,000 on the side for appearing in a McDonalds Big N' Tasty burger ad. During the show, he won numerous product endorsements and speaking engagements: From 2006 to 2008, Trump collected $5.2 million from 11 different ad campaigns and speaking events, including for Double Stuf Oreos and All laundry detergent. The ads portrayed him as a billionaire reality-TV businessman.
A Serta mattress campaign netted him more than $15 million and lines of Trump shirts, underwear, and neckties by dressmakers such Philips-Van Heusen earned him another $15 million.
Trump also spent more than $70,000 to style his hair during filming of 'The Apprentice."
The paper first reported on Sunday that Trump had not paid any federal income tax for 10 of the last 15 years. He also paid just $750 in each of 2016 and 2017. The tax-return documents cover more than two decades, and detail significant losses from his business entities, including more than $55 million lost from his hotel in Washington, DC since its opening in 2016.