--- ---  # How _The Apprentice_ Shaped Donald Trump's Presidential Campaign by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/) and [Joyce Lee](https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/) Jun 21, 2016 3:01 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Salt Lake City on March 18, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Salt Lake City on March 18, 2016.George Frey—Getty Images by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/) and [Joyce Lee](https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/) Jun 21, 2016 3:01 PM UTC Before he was [the presumptive Republican nominee for president](http://time.com/4317508/meet-presumptive-nominee-donald-trump/), [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4376245/the-donald-trump-honeymoon-is-over/) leveraged his famous name as the host of the NBC reality series [_The Apprentice_](http://time.com/4296060/trump-the-apprentice-cast-new-york/). Trump quickly became known for his role as the ringleader of chaos, staying calm and rational while the contestants striving to be hired sputtered around him. Of course, _The Apprentice_ was edited toward making all of Trump’s decisions seem correct, even when it was apparent he was keeping people like infamous reality villain Omarosa around more for their ability to cause drama than for their business acumen. And the lessons Trump took from his time in the TV spotlight have little to do with the skills he exhibited as dispassionate judge of talent on TV. Let loose on the campaign trail, Trump _is_ Omarosa: A figure whose continued success hinges on his ability to provide the sort of drama that makes television worth watching. Watch this history of Trump’s time on reality TV above to learn more. Donald Trump: How The Apprentice Shaped His 2016 Campaign ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4376384/donald-trump-the-apprentice/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4376384/donald-trump-the-apprentice/"},"headline":"How The Apprentice Shaped Donald Trump's Presidential Campaign","datePublished":"2016-06-21T15:01:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:09:09.123Z","description":"Trump's success hinges on his ability to provide the sort of drama that makes television worth watching","url":"https://time.com/4376384/donald-trump-the-apprentice/","keywords":["Television","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1385ed8e0fb782f6/69888c283c163911ea45c8ae/timepol-republican-presidential-candidate-donald-trump-ted-cruz-primary-voting-utah-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Joyce Lee","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1385ed8e0fb782f6/69888c283c163911ea45c8ae/timepol-republican-presidential-candidate-donald-trump-ted-cruz-primary-voting-utah-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Happy Donald Trump","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Salt Lake City on March 18, 2016.","creditText":"George Frey—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4376384/donald-trump-the-apprentice/","name":"How The Apprentice Shaped Donald Trump's Presidential Campaign"}}]}] ```