Trump Admin Announces “Apprentice”-Style Reality Competition Show Judged by Nicki Minaj
Trump Admin Announces “Apprentice”-Style Reality Competition Show Judged by Nicki Minaj
Joseph KonigTue, September 1, 2026 at 5:46 PM UTC
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Nicki Minaj and President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28.Credit: Win McNamee/Getty -
The Trump administration is producing a reality show competition featuring rapper Nicki Minaj as one of its judges and former Superman actor Dean Cain as host
The Million Dollar Pitch Competition will give away prizes from a $1 million pool to five entrepreneurs pitching their small businesses for investment
Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler boosted the competition as “bringing the boardroom energy” like The Apprentice, the reality show President Donald Trump hosted for over a decade
The Trump administration is producing a reality show competition featuring rapper Nicki Minaj as one of its judges and formerSuperman actor Dean Cain as its host, Small Business Administration (SBA) head Kelly Loeffler announced this week.
The Million Dollar Pitch Competition will give away prizes from a $1 million cash pool to five entrepreneurs pitching their small businesses for investment, according to a Monday, Aug. 31, release from the SBA.
Loeffler has boosted the competition as “bringing the boardroom energy” to Washington, D.C., drawing parallels to President Donald Trump’s long-running NBC reality show The Apprentice.
“This is a major, MAJOR KEY 🔑. Sooooooooooo looking forward to this!!!” Minaj wrote on X. “Imagine being a part of the Trump Administration’s initiative to support small businesses. Let’s GO!!!!!!!!!! 🎀”
One of the best-selling musicians of all time, Minaj has become an increasingly vocal supporter of the president in recent years, appearing with him at the White House and forging ties with his allies, including Erika Kirk.
“We also have a woman that is so respected and so hot and so great and such a great friend of, I don’t say conservative, I say of common sense,” Trump, 80, said while introducing Minaj, 43, at a July 6 Rose Garden event. “She’s a fantastic person and she’s a woman that’s respected by everybody and she’s got real talent: Nicki Minaj.”
President Donald Trump and Nicki Minaj shake hands on Jan. 28.Credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty
It’s at least the second reality show produced by the Trump administration in the president’s second term.
Last month, the Department of Transportation released the six-episode The Great American Road Trip featuring Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — who met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, on MTV’s The Real World: Bostonin 1997 — and his family.
“We’re hoping to get it out to everyone,” Loeffler, 55, said on Fox News’ Fox & Friends on Tuesday, Sept. 1, previewing the live Sept. 18 final round in Washington, D.C.
Loeffler added, “President Trump understands small business is big business; he tells me all the time, ‘When you add it all up, it’s really big business.’ ”
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The competition, originally titled the Patriot Pitch Competition and organized as part of the Trump administration’s Freedom 250 celebrations, narrowed down the selections from thousands of applicants to five finalists in recent months.
The five contestants will compete for prizes ranging from $75,000 to $400,000, which will be paid for by Clover, the point-of-sale services company.
The competitors include: Compotech, Inc. of Brewer, Maine; Plas-Tech Tooling of Garner, Iowa; Red River of Gillette, Wyo.; VetPowered LLC of San Diego; and Winton Machine of Suwanee, Ga., according to an SBA release.
Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler speaks alongside Donald Trump at the White House on May 4.Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty
“SBA is bringing the boardroom energy to Washington, D.C. and rolling out the red carpet for small biz — with an ALL-STAR lineup of celebrity judges for our Million Dollar Pitch Competition,” Loeffler wrote on X on Monday.
She went on to describe the celebrity judges and host as “powerhouse entrepreneurs and innovators who have built global brands, transformed industries, and inspired millions.”
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Trump hosted The Apprentice for 14 seasons from his New York City Trump Tower, judging contestants on their skills in business. He hosted the original show and eight seasons of its spin-off The Celebrity Apprentice until 2015, when he launched his campaign for president.
The other judges for the final round of Loeffler’s competition will be Joe Gebbia — the Airbnb co-founder and Tesla board member whom Trump appointed the first-ever U.S. chief design officer last year — and Grant Cardone, a businessman and wealthy benefactor of the Church of Scientology who has long been a supporter of the president.
Actor Dean Cain waves from the audience at President Donald Trump’s Las Vegas rally on Aug. 5, 2026.Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Cain, the Lois & Clark actor, wrote on X that he was “honored” to host the competition. Cain, 60, joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year in support of Trump’s mass deportation efforts and in a bid to boost recruitment.
Cardone wrote on X he was “super excited and grateful” to be a judge on “this incredible initiative,” and Gebbia also celebrated his participation.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
