Randal Pinkett was 34 years old when he applied for the fourth season of Donald Trump's reality soap The Apprentice in 2005, where the contestants compete to work for Donald Trump.
Pinkett won his season and spent a year with Trump.
- I grew up in New Jersey where Donald Trump was known as a real estate magnate and a regional celebrity.
My picture of him before I got close was that he was sympathetic, selfish but in a tolerable way, he says to the Foreign Office.
But that picture changed, Pinkett says, when he came close to Trump and Trump's company.
- It was an unwelcome culture, a divisive culture.
He did not want people in his immediate circle who challenged him, his ideas and perspectives.
His loyalty was one-dimensional, he expects loyalty from you but was not loyal to you.
During that year, I was disappointed that the image of Donald I had had was the opposite of the Donald of reality.
"He believes in inclusion"
In 2017, Trump became President of the United States.
When Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election, he promised to be Trump's opposite.
But less than a year in, more people are beginning to compare Biden with his predecessor when it comes to issues around migration and America first policy.
Randal Pinkett does not agree.
- I do not know Joe Biden but from what I have seen, Biden is Trump's opposite.
He is someone who believes in inclusion and believes that diversity leads to better ideas and solutions.
"Inconsistent"
But he says parts of Biden's policies may be reminiscent of Trump's.
- Right now, the rhetoric and handling of migrants at the border is inconsistent.
Do you think this is a new version of Trump's policy?
- In my opinion, the worst version of Joe Biden would never come close to the best version of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump damaged our democracy.
He undermined the media and our electoral system and continues to do so.
I do not see Joe Biden coming close to the kind of vandalism that Trump is still dealing with.
But with that said, the current government needs to review its direction so that words align with action.
Click on the clip to hear Randal Pinkett talk about what it was like to work for Donald Trump and see more about the similarities between Joe Bidens and Donald Trump's policy in the Foreign Office: Lill-Trump on SVT Play.