The Apprentice insiders reveal wild details about how they transformed Trump into TV royalty – including shocking truth about his ‘stinky’ office and diva antics

Producers and industry insiders who worked with Donald Trump during his reality TV heyday say his image as a billionaire mogul was carefully crafted for The Apprentice.

This is evident from a shocking report by The New York Timeswho spoke to a number of producers who admitted that Trump was nothing like the successful, practical entrepreneur you see on screen.

Trump was chosen by series creator Mark Burnett to star in The Apprentice in 2003 at the age of 57, largely because he was a household name thanks to his tabloid status in the 1990s.

According to insiders, the smoke screen surrounding Trump’s empire was visible from the beginning. Producers visited Trump Tower to scout the location, but were not exactly impressed.

When the production team visited Trump Tower in the summer of 2003, the report said a “stench” was noticed wafting through the upper floors of the Manhattan skyscraper where Trump worked.

Producers reportedly found wooden desks covered in wood chips, musty carpets and fewer than 50 people working at the Trump Organization headquarters.

“When you walk into an office and you hear the words ‘billionaire’ or even ‘recovering billionaire,’ you don’t expect to find broken furniture lying around or smell carpet that desperately needs fixing,” recalls Bill Pruitt, one of the show’s producers.

While he claimed to be New York City’s most successful real estate developer, Trump was just emerging from a turbulent decade in which he had bankrupted several subsidiaries of his empire.

He faced financial collapse when his Atlantic City casinos went into trouble and plans to open more golf courses and skyscrapers in America fell through, costing him dearly.

But despite this lack of progress – which would be negated in the years that followed as Trump’s personal brand took off – the businessman would soon emerge on American screens as a successful billionaire.

According to insiders, this transformation was carried out almost entirely without Trump’s input for Burnett, who reportedly approached other luminaries such as Warren Buffett and Richard Branson before deciding that Trump would be his star.

Network executives were responsible for the day-to-day running of The Apprentice and rented a space in Trump Tower to create a mock boardroom where Trump would repeat his famous catchphrase, “You’re fired!”

With his huge name recognition and the nickname plastered on buildings across America, Trump only needed to be portrayed as a comeback king who had already gotten over his slump, producers claim.

“Our job was to make it look legitimate, to make it look like there was something to it, even though we all knew there wasn’t. But that was our job,” producer Jonathan Braun told the New York Times.

‘We weren’t making a documentary – Richard Attenborough wasn’t narrating this. This was an entertainment prime-time network show.’

To reintroduce Trump to America, The Apprentice filmed an opening segment titled “Meet the Billionaire.”

The promo panned over the New York City skyline as Trump talked about how he overcame crippling debt and became who he said he was.

“Manhattan is a tough place,” Trump began the intro. “This island is the real jungle, if you’re not careful it can eat you up and spit you out.

“But if you work hard, you can really achieve success.”

The camera showed the clear transformation of his success by then panning to Trump’s struggling casinos in Atlantic City as they lit up the night sky.

Next, a photo was shown of Trump Ice, a bottled water company that went bankrupt, and Trump Place, an apartment building that bore only his name but was not run by the Trump Organization.

He continued his story: ‘But it wasn’t always that easy.

“About 13 years ago, I was in real trouble. I had billions of dollars in debt. But I fought back and I won, big league. I used my brain. I used my negotiating skills and I got it all worked out. Now my company is bigger than it ever was.

“It’s stronger than ever. And I’m having more fun than ever. I’ve mastered the art of the deal and I’ve transformed the Trump name into the highest quality brand.”

It’s no secret that Trump went from The Apprentice to the top to build his image as a celebrity billionaire before pursuing his presidential ambitions.

And while his business instincts may have baffled some insiders, Trump’s bombastic style appears to have finally come into its own when he hosted reality TV.

According to editors, he played little role in the organization of the series, but when necessary he appeared to add drama and attract more viewers.

“We portrayed him as a king at almost every opportunity,” Pruitt said. “Our mission was to make sure that everyone who watched understood that working for him would be a big deal.”

This became clear early in the first season, when contestant David Gould — the producer’s favorite because he was a doctor and venture capitalist — was abruptly fired by Trump in the very first episode.

Although it appeared that one of Gould’s other candidates would be “fired” after he bungled a failed challenge by selling a glass of lemonade for $1,000, Trump instead decided to fire Gould, seemingly on a whim.

While showrunners were stunned, producer Katherine Walker admitted, “We knew at that point we had a show, because this is not what you expect.”

While recklessness and unpredictability aren’t exactly considered good qualities in the corporate world, they were perfect for making headlines and drawing viewers to The Apprentice.

One producer said that because Trump was not involved in the candidates’ efforts, he consistently “fired the totally wrong person” because he “had no idea what was going on and he was just making something up.”

If the person he fired had made Trump look like a poor decision-maker, editors would step in to improve his image, they said.

“Our job then was to reverse engineer the show and make sure he didn’t look like a complete idiot,” Braun said, adding that they would edit the losing contestant again “to make the person he fired look worse.”