But on Saturday afternoon, president-elect Donald Trump made a surprise announcement that immediately reinvigorated the notion that there may be something “special” about the ties between Washington and London.
“You’re fired!”, was Trump’s catchphrase on the broadcast. But on Saturday, he told Burnett “you’re hired!”, announcing that the mogul will bring “a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role”.
It is unclear why Trump believes a Special Envoy needs to be posted to London. He has not announced similar appointments to any other European capital, and in the past, American leaders have usually reserved the role for deployment during times of crisis, or where a knotty problem requires a specific attention.
Historically, special envoys have only rarely been posted to Europe. In 1995, President Bill Clinton named Senator George Mitchell to be his Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, and Mitchell spent the next 6 years helping to broker peace in the province.
Burnett’s appointment comes with no specific standoff to resolve, and it is unclear how he might work alongside Warren Stephens, the billionaire investment banker named earlier this month as Trump’s choice to become the next US Ambassador to Britain.
Mark Burnett speaks at the Milken Institute 21st Global Conference in California in 2018 (Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)Stephens will certainly require Senate confirmation to become Ambassador. Burnett might also need to secure Senate backing for his post, thanks to a change in the law in January 2023. Since then, the role of Special Envoy has required Senate approval, although existing envoys named prior to that date were not required to undergo the process.
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But he also declined to release video footage from The Apprentice archives that former members of the programme’s crew suggested would reveal Trump acting in a vulgar and offensive manner. Democrats in the Senate may well want to probe that decision in an effort to glean more information about what was caught on camera.
Despite lacking any experience in childcare, he secured the position, and eventually parlayed his early days in California into a flourishing TV career.
Trump will be hoping Burnett enjoys similar success building trade relationships between the US and Britain, at the very moment Lord Peter Mandelson becomes the UK’s new Ambassador to the United States with a very similar portfolio.
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