Donald Trump is the ultimate Entrepreneur. The Apprentice franchise has become the most powerful franchise in reality series, and season 10 has some of the smartest contestants to date. According to Mr. Trump, he was impressed with the contestants.

The theme of the Apprentice season 10 is “Putting America Back to Work“, and more than half of the 16 contestants who were on the show are currently working or offered job opportunities. Additionally, the show that originally started as an educational series has definitely inspired American men and women to push themselves in these difficult times.

Prior to the final installment of NBC’s Apprentice Season 10, Premier Guide Miami caught up with Mr. Trump to discuss the future of the Apprentice.

The Apprentice season finale
Thursday, December 9th
10pm EST/PST
TASK: VIP Golf Tournament and Liza Minnelli Concert

In Part 2 of the season finale, one finalist is horrified to realize that Kathy Griffin has missed the start of the tournament, and that Mr. Trump’s golf team is missing a player. The other scrambles to meet the challenge of feeding 450 people before the Liza Minnelli concert. Cheap tournament prizes embarrass one finalist, but Liza Minnelli’s performance wows the crowd and the evening ends on a high note. The next day, Donald Trump makes his final decision … one candidate is fired, and the other becomes The Apprentice.

The original idea behind the Apprentice:

Donald Trump: “I think it really started as an educational show and maybe a business show simultaneously. It was about how to get ahead, how to do well in business, how to do well in the world. It started as that and really continues as that and it’s one of the things that inspired me to do it in the first place. It’s been amazing to me that it’s done so well for so long. We do love regular Apprentice but the celebrity version has really brought it to a new level.”

Views on changes in the U.S. economy:

Donald Trump: Well, I think this season was a little bit sad to be honest with you. It wasn’t like the original Apprentice when everyone was up, as I discussed before. This was a little sad because everyone was sort of not doing so well and that’s why they were on the show, because they were representative of what was going on. So in one way it was a little bit of a downer and in another way I think it’s very inspirational, and I think people learned a lot. You know, we have some fans and they know every line of every show. It’s amazing how some people latched onto this one. They really found it to be educational and that was always very important to me having to do with The Apprentice.

Final Apprentice without celebrities:

Donald Trump: “Probably. We’ve had such great success with both the regular one and the celebrity version, but the Celebrity Apprentice has really been great. We really wanted to do one to see what it would be like with the bad economy. When first one came on, it was a whole different world! The world was a successful place and it went on in that atmosphere. NBC and I wanted to show the world as it is now. Brandy and Clint are great people, but they had a hard time with this economy. Five years ago, they had great jobs. They were making a fortune! People asked us – a lot of people wanted to see one more version of regular Apprentice put into the economy we’re stuck with today, which isn’t very good. The next season of Celebrity Apprentice is finishing up now, though. We’ve got some amazing people and that will come on March 6.”

The Contestant who surprised him the most:

Donald Trump: “I think Liza was a bit of a surprise! She turned out being better than many people thought she would be. She’s also a great golfer! She’s a professional, collegiate golfer and was very impressive with her athleticism. I think that Clint was a bit of a surprise, to be honest. I think that he was someone that was underestimated in the beginning and turned out to be a star. I think Steuart was excellent. We really had some excellent people on the show. A couple of them got in trouble but I think they redeemed themselves as they came back. Brandy looked good from the beginning – she was tough and smart, she fought back when she needed to and didn’t waste energy. We had some really great contestants, I thought.”

On becoming the President of the United States:

Donald Trump: “They need help, believe me. I haven’t thought about it but they definitely need help. This country is doing very, very poorly, especially in reference to other countries that are doing well primarily because we allow them to. I would not go in that way, though. I will not do any consultations.”

“Donald Trump, You’re Fired!”

Donald Trump: “If I were on the Apprentice, I probably would be the first one fired! I’m amazed at these people, I really am. Obviously some don’t do very well but I’m amazed at Clint and Brandy – it never ceases to amaze me how hard-working, sharp, smart and cunning they are. They have so many qualities and they also have patience. I’m not sure I would – I think I would be lacking. Patience is something you would really need because it’s a gruelling process. I don’t know that I’d do well at all!”