Arnold Schwarzenegger Said He Is Not Bothered By Trump’s ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Role

Donald Trump remaining on as an executive producer of The Celebrity Apprentice may have riled some, but one person who is not shaken by it is his successor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The former California governor said he is not bothered by the president-elect’s involvement with the new season of the show and thinks the situation has been overblown, as reported by Deadline.

When it was announced Trump would still have his name on the newest iteration of The Celebrity Apprentice, people were a bit curious how he would juggle chiming in about the show he made famous and running the free world. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway alleviated people’s fears by saying he would only participate in the show in his “spare time.” And new host Schwarzenegger said during a press junket he is cool with the president-elect being involved:

“I knew from the beginning that he is an executive producer on the show. … It’s no different than when I was running for governor and became governor. My credit in starring in Terminator still said Schwarzenegger, and everything stayed the same. I continued getting the royalties and all that.”

NBC has been a home for Trump since The Apprentice premiered in 2004, despite getting the boot from them earlier this year and then quickly getting a second chance. Schwarzenegger went on to say he wasn’t bothered by Trump’s polarizing personality affecting the show’s ratings and commended him for his performance during the election:

“[Trump] did a great job, that’s why I was attracted to the show. … I hope I can match up to what he has done and continue on with a great successful show. In fact, I’m counting out all of you [press] to really promote the show because I want to have my ratings a little higher than his was … but don’t tell him that.”

Schwarzenegger was civil in his comments about his predecessor, despite subtly insinuating Trump changed his voting patterns in October.

UPDATE: Trump did offer a rebuttal, tweeting he is not involved with the daily operations of the show and that his executive producer title is merely ceremonial:

(Via Deadline)