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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
As told to Kate Lloyd, Julian Borger and David Smith

‘I said, if you want to fire me, just fire me. And so he did’: my showdown with Donald Trump

Donald Trump John Bolton NBC National Security
A close-up of Donald Trump's face and his finger pointing
‘Trump is the ideal politician for this moment: he’s all personality, he understands how to trigger you, he knows the power of his own mythology’: Gene Folkes, Apprentice contestant. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Gene Folkes, 62, based in Manhattan, was a contestant on season 10 of The Apprentice, which aired in 2010. A former air force recruiter until 1991, he retrained as an investment banker, then launched his own business before appearing on the reality show. He was fired by Trump in episode 5. He now runs the technology consulting firm OshunX and hosts a podcast, Folkes Unfettered.

I didn’t audition to be on The Apprentice. I received the call out of the blue: “Would you be interested in doing this show?” I didn’t know a lot about it. However, like any young business person, you look for people who you consider titans. There’s this mythology around Trump. He was one of the people I wanted to emulate.

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