‘Sense a Bit of Jealousy’: Trump Reacts to Don Jr. ‘Apprentice’ Talk — But His Slick Jab Has People Saying It Was Personal, He Prefers Ivanka
The Trump brand has never been shy about a comeback, and now it looks like the family’s most famous TV franchise could be heading for yet another reboot — this time with a new face in the boardroom and a fresh wave of controversy already swirling online.
Amazon executives have reportedly been having internal conversations about reviving “The Apprentice,” the reality show that turned Donald Trump into a pop-culture powerhouse.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Don Jr.’s name has come up as a potential host — though Amazon is insisting these talks are still preliminary and no formal pitch has gone to the family. Preliminary or not, the internet didn’t wait for a press release before sounding off.
What makes the whole thing more layered is the history behind it and how it feeds into what people think about the president and the original show’s host feels about his children.
Long before any reboot rumors surfaced, Trump reportedly made clear to producers that Ivanka was his pick to carry the franchise forward.
According to the Daily Beast, he allegedly called her “by far the best person you could hire,” pointing to her business credentials and camera presence in the book, “Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass.”
The network passed, concerned that the show would start looking like a full family production. Now, years later, the conversation has shifted to her brother — and the optics aren’t exactly cleaner.
While taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump was asked about fresh reports of a possible revival of his former reality show, with his son, Don Trump Jr., potentially stepping in to lead it.
He first leaned into his own success with the show before pivoting to his son with what some heard as a backhanded compliment, quickly brushing off the idea with a short, “we’ll see what happens,” and moving on
“Well, I’ve been hearing it. Look, we had a great success, 14 seasons, and The Apprentice was a tremendous success. So I’ve been hearing that, you know, a little bit, so we’ll see what happens. He’s a good guy. He’s probably good. He’s got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that… so we’ll see what happens. Yeah, they told me about it. We’ll see.”
Meanwhile, Trump himself is still cashing in without stepping back in front of cameras.
He reportedly, according to The Hollywood Reporter, pulls between $100,000 and $1 million annually in royalties from reruns alone. The franchise keeps his name in circulation and money in his pocket, new episodes or not. That context matters when the reboot conversation starts — because it raises the question of who this revival is really serving.
Still, the rumor mill spun fast, and Black Twitter and beyond came ready.
One user wrote, “They keep coming up with ways to launder money into the Trump family coffers. Next up a Munsters remake with Barron?”
— sirusudon18 (@sirusudon18) April 30, 2026
Other commenters quickly noticed the jealousy. “He’s so pissed by that question. If it’s not about him he doesn’t care.”
“Man never stops complimenting himself.”
“I sense a bit of jealousy in his response.”
And the jokes kept coming.
“Who the hell wants to watch that Douche canoe be an a—hole on tv?” one person asked.
Another user chimed in, “Imagine never having anything of your own, and just trying to be your Daddy your entire life.”
And one final commenter summed up the mood bluntly: “Amazon wasn’t satisfied losing all that money on Melania, now they wanna hire Sniffy Jr.”
The reboot buzz hit at the same time the Trump family was navigating a completely different viral firestorm.
Last year, the president briefly dropped out of the public eye, and social media immediately ran wild. Screenshots of alleged hospital visits circulated. Conspiracy theories about his health — and worse — spread fast enough to trend nationally. What the White House characterized as a routine schedule adjustment became a full-blown digital crisis within hours.
Don Jr. came out swinging. He took to social media to blast what he called “a coordinated lie,” insisting his father was working behind the scenes on the country’s business. The episode was a reminder of how quickly misinformation moves today — and how personally the Trump family takes it when the narrative shifts toward vulnerability.
In 2025, Don Jr. was trending but this time for his reaction to a viral ad campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.
The campaign drew criticism from some quarters over what they described as troubling messaging, but Don Jr. stayed unbothered. He leaned in — reposting an AI-generated image of his father decked out in head-to-toe denim. Supporters called it funny. Critics called it a distraction dressed up as a joke.
But that’s the playbook, isn’t it? Controversy as content. Noise as brand strategy. The potential “Apprentice” reboot fits neatly into that pattern.