Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, confirmed Friday that Mr. Trump could retain an executive producer title on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” after he takes office in January.
“He’s a very transparent guy. Everyone can see what he’s doing, and the fact is that he is conferring with all types of experts to tell him what he is allowed to do and not to do as the president of the United States,” Ms. Conway said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“If this is one of the approved activities, then perhaps he’ll consider staying on,” she said.
“If the lawyers and the protocol officers say that he can do that, then he probably is going to say, ’Why not?’ ” she said.
Variety reported Thursday that Mr. Trump is retaining his executive producer credit on “Celebrity Apprentice.” That spin-off, coupled with the original “Apprentice” series, helped cement Mr. Trump’s status as a world-famous celebrity businessman over the past decade.
Ms. Conway said she didn’t know whether Mr. Trump would be taking a salary from the show.
She said Mr. Trump should be allowed to have leisure-time interests.
“Work is his work, and work is his hobby. His preferred time is with his family, but it’s followed very closely behind with work,” Ms. Conway said.
“It’s a mystery to all of us when he even sleeps. I’m sure he’s watching us right now,” she said.
Executive producer credits can be a bit nebulous sometimes in Hollywood, and they are often seen as involving little work or as a way to shoehorn in a big name to lend some prestige to a particular project.
Mr. Trump has said he’ll outline his plans to separate himself from his business operations at a news conference on Dec. 15.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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