Donald Trump's Fixation with Former The Apprentice Contestant Jennifer Murphy Explored in New Book (Exclusive)

Donald Trump’s treatment of women has been widely reported over the years, including his apparent fixation with former Season 4 contestant Jennifer Murphy Trainee. Now it is being investigated how deep their connections were Diversity New comprehensive book by editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, The Intern in Wonderland.

In an upcoming book, out Tuesday, June 18, from Harper’s, fellow Season 4 contestant Randal Pinkett recounts that Trump openly bragged about his desire to develop a relationship with a woman who asked him for a job.

“I felt it was inappropriate, and because I don’t know Donald as well as I do now, it was kind of shocking,” says Pinkett, who later that season became the franchise’s first black winner. “This was a business show about business professionals. There is no place for those conversations in a business context. It was unacceptable.”

Of Murphy specifically, Pinkett says, “It was mostly between men, where he would say, ‘Oh, she’s hot. Oh, I’d love to sleep with her.’ Jennifer Murphy — that’s what he would talk about.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Murphy and the Trump campaign for comment. The Trump campaign did not respond to PEOPLE’s multiple requests for comment on Pinkett’s allegations.

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Before Murphy, 45, became a contestant on the fourth season of the once-popular NBC series, which aired in 2005, she was a participant in the Miss USA pageant system owned by the now 78-year-old Trump. The 2003 Miss Oregon USA pageant winner met Trump while competing in the 2004 Miss Oregon USA Pageant and although she didn’t win, she says Trump approached her after the winner was crowned, telling her that his ” “favorite” in the group, but that she could not participate in the evaluation of the competition. Murphy then used this moment as an opportunity to continue Traineethe show she “loved”.

“He said, ‘You’d be great. Here’s my business card. Be sure to call me. I’ll do it,'” she recalls, though she lost his business card later that night. However, she still went on the show – and ended up getting the part.

“I decided to try out for the show the old-fashioned way,” she explains. “I wore my same suit that I wore for Miss Oregon and Miss USA for the interview. It was my magic suit.”

After making it as a finalist, Murphy was lined up with four other women and entered a closed hotel room “and there’s Donald Trump!” says Murphy. Trump didn’t know she would be in attendance, but remembered the former contestant and greeted her “gently,” according to Setoodeh. “The other women were angry,” she says.

Jennifer Murphy during ‘The Apprentice 4’ Finale After Party – Red Carpet at Planet Hollywood in New York, New York, United States.

Carley Margolis/FilmMagic

Behind the scenes, the book suggests that show creator Mark Burnett had “real opposition” to Murphy’s inclusion since Season 4 was supposed to feature a cast of “commercially successful people.” But Trump “ignored Burnett’s objections” and “thought Murphy would make good TV, equating her looks with ratings,” according to the book.

The reality star continued to give Murphy unfair advantages over other players, including introducing her to Lamborghini executives, calling her his “favourite” just feet away from the other contenders.

Even today, Trump admits he thought Murphy was “really beautiful,” sharing in the book, “It’s not a question of favorites. Someone said, ‘Who do you think was the most beautiful?’ Okay. I don’t know if she was good or bad.”

Although Trump eventually fired Murphy, he called her just one day after filming her big committee elimination scene. “I didn’t want to fire you, but the producers kind of made me. But I still want to hire you,” she claims Trump told her.

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From there, Murphy was sent to meetings with Trump’s top executives. He would also end up offering her two jobs: to work with the Miss Universe organization or at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, she says.

“I think he looked at me the way he looks at his daughter,” Murphy says. “But also, I thought he was a bit warm to me.”

After a one-on-one meeting with him in his office, Trump escorted Murphy to the elevator. Then he leaned down and kissed her lips.

“I mean, he didn’t push him,” Murphy says. “It was like, one, two, three — no tongue. I just let him kiss me. And I kind of blushed.”

Murphy previously spoke about the kiss in 2016, the year Trump first ran for office. To this day, she claims that she was “not offended” by his actions.

Pictured is the cover for ‘Apprentice in Wonderland’ by Ramin Setoodeh.

HarperCollins

“He didn’t grab me. It was done in a way that I could push away,” Murphy says in the book. “I know the difference and I can feel the difference. when someone is predatory to someone who just likes pretty women. I think if anything he likes pretty women too much—if that’s a flaw.”

Murphy turned down both jobs to move to Los Angeles and pursue an acting career. One night, when Trump came to town, he called her and asked her to meet him in his room at the Beverly Hills Hotel. But because she has a “conscience” and “integrity,” she says she “made up a reason I was busy.”

Still, Murphy would later cash in on some favors from Trump. She requested a wedding at one of his estates and even received a 20 percent discount on her total bill. She also got Access to Hollywood to “work for a week on segments about her July 2006 wedding, narrated by Billy Bush — no stranger to Trump’s approach to women — and Nancy O’Dell. Murphy called Trump again to ask if he would record one of the spots with her, as a good promotion for both of us,” the book reveals, with Murphy noting that Trump agreed to do it, but only had 15 minutes to film the segment. He ended up staying much longer.

“He loves cameras,” Murphy says. “We filmed for a long time that day. He kissed me on the cheek in front of the camera.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court on January 11, 2024 in New York.

Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty

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Off camera, however, Murphy recalls Trump telling her he didn’t believe she was marrying her dentist fiancé. “He put his arm around me. It was off camera. I think he slapped my bum a little bit. I said, ‘Oh my God!’

Although the pair continued to stay in touch for a while, things eventually soured as Murphy publicly addressed Trump’s constant attacks on Rosie O’Donnell, saying, “I wouldn’t take it that way.” He later turned down an invitation to her film premiere, believing her to be “disloyal” after “everything” he had done for her.

All communication between the couple stopped until her divorce in 2007. At that time, she arrived at his office without an appointment and they “practically became close again.”

“There’s something sexy about a man who takes control and gets things done,” she says, noting that she doesn’t see the pair ever having a romantic relationship. “I’ve always loved it when someone is brilliant. I wasn’t physically attracted to him, but I was and still am attracted to what he represents – from time to time.”

Murphy says he plans to support Trump in the 2024 election, adding, “I think he’s always had the will to help our country.”

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The Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass is out on June 18 and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

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