Donald Trump Accused of Picking Only 'Beautiful' Women to Compete on 'The Apprentice': 'That’s All I Want to Look At'

Twenty years after its first episode, controversial stories about the reality TV show that elevated former President Donald Trump to national prominence are beginning to surface.

It's been reported the New York businessman allegedly only picked the women he dubbed attractive enough to be on his NBC show, The Apprentice.

The business-themed reality TV show instantly catapulted Trump from a notorious New York tabloid figure to a nationally recognized personality admired for his business acumen.

According to one of the show's early producers, the NBC program was instrumental in creating a deceptive image of the controversial figurehead. This included manipulating his on-screen persona, consciously misleading viewers about his wealth and business proficiency, and disregarding disturbing on-set behaviors.

According to a recent report, while filming an earlier season of the show, Trump allegedly described one of the camera assistants as "too heavy."

He reportedly leered at the production crew member and assessed the physical attributes of a female contestant to whoever would listen. He also ordered the "heavy" female camera operator off an elevator which she was about to film him in.

A second female camera operator allegedly caught the billionaire's attention. It's been reported she happened to resemble his eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

“There’s a beautiful woman behind that camera,” he says toward a line of 10 different operators set up in the foyer of Trump Tower one day. “That’s all I want to look at.”

At one point during the series, Trump allegedly cornered a female producer and asked her who he should eliminate from the show.

When she told him about how one of the contestants blamed another for their team's loss, Trump raised his hands, cupping them to his chest, asking, “You mean the one with the …?” He supposedly didn't know the contestant’s name and eventually fired her that episode.

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In response to detailed questions about this and other incidents alleged in the recent report, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump 2024 campaign, wrote: “This is a completely fabricated and bulls----story that was already peddled in 2016.”

He alleged the only reason these stories are surfacing now is because Democrats are “desperate.”

The former president is currently awaiting a verdict in the New York criminal hush money case where he is accused of cooking his books to hide payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair.

Slate provided quotes and sources used in this article.