--- title: Donald Trump: We Chose Arnold Schwarzenegger For Apprentice description: He is expected to remain a producer on the show canonical: https://time.com/4596637/donald-trump-apprentice-arnold-schwarzenegger/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-09T16:51:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:14:10.057Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump: We Chose Arnold Schwarzenegger For Apprentice og:description: He is expected to remain a producer on the show og:url: https://time.com/4596637/donald-trump-apprentice-arnold-schwarzenegger/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2398991abb66852a/6988b254524fc0dce4dfa7a4/donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Political And Business Visitors At Trump Tower During President-Elect's Transition To The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump: We Chose Arnold Schwarzenegger For Apprentice twitter:description: He is expected to remain a producer on the show twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2398991abb66852a/6988b254524fc0dce4dfa7a4/donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump: "We Chose Arnold" For The Celebrity Apprentice Reboot > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 9, 2016 4:51 PM UTC  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York, on Dec. 6, 2016. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York, on Dec. 6, 2016. Albin Lohr-Jones—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 9, 2016 4:51 PM UTC President-elect Donald Trump says he played a role in choosing his replacement host for The Celebrity Apprentice, the reality show which he still partially owns after hosting for more than a decade. “We chose Arnold Schwarzenegger to do it, and we’ll see how that works out,” Trump told TIME on Nov. 28, in an interview shortly before he was named Person of the Year. He said the moment he gave up continuing to host the show was the moment he knew he was going to run for President. _Variety_ [reported](http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/donald-trump-mark-burnett-celebrity-apprentice-executive-producer-1201937420/) Thursday that Trump will remain an executive producer on the series, with his name appearing second on the roster of credits after creator Mark Burnett and before Schwarzenegger. In an interview with TIME in August 2015, Trump confirmed that he maintained an ownership stake in the show. “Yeah I do. A big interest,” he said. “I own the show with Mark Burnett.” Burnett met with Trump at Trump Tower this week to discuss the presidential inauguration, with Trump telling donors to his inaugural committee Wednesday that Burnett encouraged him to consider a major revamp of the traditional ceremonies surrounding his swearing-in. According to two people in the room, Trump boasted that Burnett had suggested flying a helicopter to the Inaugural on the Capitol grounds as well as holding a parade in New York City. Trump announced he will hold a press conference on Dec. 15 to outline how he will seek to mitigate the substantial potential for conflicts of interest facing a person of his means occupying the Oval Office. But according to people familiar with his thinking, Trump is almost certain to maintain a financial stake in his business, the Trump Organization, which would not resolve ethics concerns raised by government watchdogs and the Office of Government Ethics. In an interview with CNN Friday, former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said, “Presidents have a right to do things in their spare time.” The new Celebrity Apprentice is scheduled to begin on NBC on January 2, 2017. 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