Donald Trump made his name on television before becoming the Republican nominee, but a new report suggests his plan after Election Day may be to return to the small screen.
Trump’s son-in-law, New York Observer publisher Jared Kushner, reached out to an investment bank founder Aryeh Bourkoff to discuss a possible Trump network after the election, Financial Times reported Monday. The conversation with Bourkoff, who is also chief executive of the bank LionTree and known for advising media deals, was short and has stalled since, according to Financial Times.
The meeting bolsters rumors of a Trump media company should he lose the presidential race: Vanity Fair reported in June after Trump had clinched the nomination that he was considering starting his own media platform.
Trump’s senior campaign staff is also studded with operatives who made their names in media: Stephen Bannon, who serves as the campaign’s CEO, also leads the conservative website Breitbart News. Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman who was let go after several sexual assault allegations against him, also provides advice to the campaign.
But Ailes’s departure from Fox News included a non-compete clause according to Politico, though the conditions — and limitations — of that clause remain unclear.
Trump has also rejected suggestions he might start his own network — he told the Washington Post in September that he was uninterested.
“I want to win the presidency, and I want to make America great again,” he told the Post. “It’s very simple. I have no interest in a media company. False rumor.”