President-elect Donald Trump announced that Hollywood producer Mark Burnett would be his Special Envoy to the United Kingdom on Saturday afternoon.
Burnett, an Emmy Award-winning producer and former executive who helped make Trump a household name on The Apprentice, has no previous government experience.
On his Truth Social account, Trump announced the appointment of the producer of hit shows such as Shark Tank and The Voice.
“It is my great honor to appoint Mark Burnett as the Special Envoy to the United Kingdom. With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role,” Trump wrote on Saturday.
Trump
He also said Burnett will “work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges.”
In addition to The Apprentice and the shows Trump named, Burnett produced popular shows such as Survivor, Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity, and World Pet Games.
Burnett was born in London and moved to the US in the early 1980s to work in television.
Trump showered Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, with praise weeks after his inauguration in February 2017 at the National Prayer Breakfast:
I also want to thank my great friends, though, Roma. Where’s Roma? Beautiful Roma Downey. The voice of an angel. She’s got the voice — every time I hear it, that voice is so beautiful. Everything is so beautiful about Roma, including her husband because he’s a special, special friend, Mark Burnett — for the wonderful introduction. So true. So true. I said to the agent, I’m sorry. The only thing more — I actually got on the phone and fired him myself because he said, you don’t want to do it, it’ll never work,
it’ll never, ever work. You don’t want to do it. I said, listen — but I really fired him after it became the number-one show. It became so successful, and he wanted a commission, and he didn’t want to do it. That’s what I really said.
Also on Saturday, Trump nominated Sen. Ted Cruz’s chief of staff to a top posting at the Department of Justice.