Donald Trump was certain he could have beaten Barack Obama in an election, but NBC persuaded him not to run for the Republican nomination.
Variety co-editor in chief Ramin Setoodeh interviewed the former president at length in 2021 and 2023 for his book "Apprentice in Wonderland," and Trump told him that NBC executives talked him into remaining as host of his reality TV show instead of throwing his name into the 2012 presidential race, according to excerpts published by The Daily Beast.
“The first time” — meaning 2008 — “would have been hard,” Trump told Setoodeh. “The second time was easy because he was a failed president. He was four years in, and the country was doing poorly. I think it would have been easier than beating Hillary Clinton.”
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Mitt Romney, who Trump called “a total a-----e” and “a real schmuck," eventually won that GOP nomination and fell short against Obama.
Setoodeh also revealed that Trump told him that Apprentice producer Mark Burnett also tried to stop him from running in 2015, claiming that NBC would pay him "any money you want." But Trump turned down the offer and entered politics — and his presidency still seems to surprise him years later.
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"Well,’ Trump says, according to Setoodeh. ‘It [his presidency] was like a fairy tale.’ He repeats it with more conviction. ‘Look! It was a fairy tale. The first night in the White House, I end up standing outside the Lincoln Bedroom. It’s so iconic. I call people. I said, “I’m standing in the Lincoln Bedroom right now.” He had pictures of his son who died — it’s tragic. But it was Lincoln. What can I do? It was like,’ Trump tries to find the right word, ‘amazing.’"
“Trump seems pleased with himself," Setoodeh added. ‘It takes you a while to get over it. It was a dream, yeah. There’s nothing like it.' It was a dream from which he has yet to wake up — and neither have any of us.”
