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Michael Moore tells The Hollywood Reporter that President Trump announced his presidency after learning about Gwen Stefani's $10M Voice contract
He was making less money for his hosting duties on The Apprentice and thought the news would prove his popularity to NBC claims Moore
At the time The Apprentice had been approved for a 15th season but Trump had not signed on to return as host of the show
In June 2015, Trump claimed that a little less than $215 million of his fortune came courtesy of The Apprentice
His financial statements later showed that the previous year he had received less than $5 million for his work on the show
NBC and The White House have yet to respond to requests for comment

Published: 14:03 EDT, 5 September 2018 | Updated: 18:00 EDT, 5 September 2018

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Michael Moore claims Donald Trump decided to run for president because he was bitter over Gwen Stefani's $10million NBC pay check.

The filmmaker, who will premiere his latest documentary Fahrenheit 11/9 at the Toronto Film festival this week, says that Trump decided to announce his candidacy after learning the network was paying the pop star the huge amount to appear on The Voice.

Trump was negotiating his own contract with NBC regarding whether or not he would appear on season 15 of The Apprentice in the weeks before he entered the Republican primary on June 16, 2015.

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What you waiting for: Michael Moore tells The Hollywood Reporter that President Trump announced his presidency after learning about Gwen Stefani's $10M Voice contract (Stefani and ex husband Gavin Rossdale with the Trumps in 2005)

Excuse me mister: He was making less money for his hosting duties on The Apprentice and thought the news would prove his popularity to NBC claims Moore (Stefani on The Voice in 2015)

'He'd been talking about running for president since 1988, but he didn't really want to be president. There's no penthouse in the White House. And he doesn't want to live in a black city,' said Moore.

'He was trying to pit NBC against another network, but it just went off the rails.'

One of the first things that Trump did after announcing he would be seeking office was reveal how much money he made on The Apprentice.

The then-Republican hopeful stated that his net worth was $10 billion, and he personally claimed that a little less than $215 million of his fortune came courtesy of The Apprentice.

That would mean Trump averaged approximately $15 million for each of the show's 14 seasons up to that point, which is 50 percent more than Stefani.

Unlike Stefani however, Trump also served as the executive producer on the show and played a far larger role in behind the scenes.

Financial disclosure forms he released soon after did not provide any real support for these claims, however, showing less than $5 million in revenue from the show.

It still remains unclear if Trump has an ownership stake in the show, which ultimately cast Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace the host-turned-politician.

Don't speak: NBC and The White House have yet to respond to requests for comment

Numbers went down when the show returned for season 15, with Trump still on board as an executive producer in a vanity role that required no actual work.

The opening episode got 4.95 million viewers, and its finale pulled in just 3.5 million - both getting less than the last Trump-helmed episode of the show, which received 6.1 million viewers.

Overall the season had an average viewership of 4.9 million, considerably less than the previous season's 7.6 million.

News of the first episode's rocky start led to Trump making snide remarks about his replacement's performance.

'Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got 'swamped' (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT,' Trump tweeted on January 6. 'So much for being a movie star - and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1.'

Ex-California governor Schwarzenegger hit back on a Twitter video, saying ' Hey Donald, I have a great idea: Why don't we switch jobs?

'You take over TV because you're such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job, so then people can finally sleep comfortably again.'

When the show was not picked up for season 16, Trump lashed out at the terminator star and claimed he was fired due to 'pathetic ratings.'

NBC did not respond to requests for comment.