Donald Trump Allegedly Couldn’t Get Enough of This A-List TV Star When They Were Both on NBC
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The Donald Trump years at NBC during his Apprentice Era are being examined through a new lens. Author Ramin Setoodeh’s book, Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, was released on Tuesday, June 18, and fans are getting an insider look at the former president’s odd obsession with an A-list TV star who would rather have nothing to do with him.
Setoodeh interviewed Donald Trump multiple times in preparation for his publication and the tales he told were wild, especially his “obsession” with Will & Grace star Debra Messing. Of course, the former president claimed that it was the other way around — she loved him. Per an excerpt in Variety, “She came up to me with her beautiful red hair,” Trump says about Messing, pausing on this detail a beat too long. “And she said, ‘Sir — I love you. Thank God for you! You’re saving the network, and you’re saving my show.’”
That’s when it’s fact-check time. Will & Grace aired in the time slot before The Apprentice and the business competition show would not affect the sitcom’s ratings, which the author pointed out to Donald Trump. He spun his tall tale in a different direction. “A lead-in — or a lead-out,” he told Setoodeh. The former president truly believes that Messing was “so thankful” for his show and that she would “do anything” for him — and yes, you should interpret his words in the most unsavoury way.
In a second meeting, Donald Trump talked about his unrequited crush on the actress, noting “This Debra Messing, who I always thought was quite attractive — not that it matters, of course…” He reportedly wasn’t pleased by her continued criticism after he won the 2016 presidential election because he always had a thing for her. She and Donald Trump were often engaged in a bitter Twitter feud during his administration, and she even lashed out at Susan Sarandon for giving the former president credit for inspiring more women to hold office.
“STFU SUSAN,” Messing wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “Oh yes, PLEASE let’s give Trump CREDIT. I mean how else are you able to walk out on the street. Convince yourself that this CATASTROPHE of a President who you said was better that [Hillary Clinton] IS NOT ripping children away from parents seeking asylum.” There’s obviously no love lost between Messing and Donald Trump, at least from her point of view, but the former president seems to still carry a torch for the actress despite her disdain for him.
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