US president-elect Donald Trump says he has appointed British TV producer Mark Burnett as his special envoy to the UK.

Mr Burnett, 64, created and worked alongside Mr Trump on the US series, The Apprentice, which made the president-elect internationally famous for firing a succession of contestants vying for roles in his businesses.

The London-born producer has also worked on popular reality shows such as Shark Tank, The Voice, and Survivor.

In a statement, Mr Trump said: “It is my great honour to appoint Mark Burnett as the special envoy to the United Kingdom.

“With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role.”

Mr Trump’s first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on The Apprentice and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a “star”.

The 78-year-old president-elect went on to praise Mr Burnett for “creating and producing some of the biggest shows in Television History,” and highlight how he won 13 Emmy Awards.

Mr Burnett’s spokesperson said in a statement to Variety he was “truly honoured to serve The United States of America and President Trump as his Special Envoy to the United Kingdom”.

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Mr Burnett will work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges, according to the statement.

It comes after Mr Trump, who will take office following his inauguration on 20 January, nominated businessman Warren Stephens to serve as America’s ambassador to the UK.

Earlier this week, Sir Keir Starmer named Labour grandee Lord Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US.

But the appointment didn’t seem to please Chris LaCivita, co-manager for Mr Trump’s presidential election campaign, who called Lord Mandelson an “absolute moron”.

In a post on X, Mr LaCivita said: “This UK govt is special replace a professional universally respected Ambo with an absolute moron – he should stay home! SAD!”

Mr Burnett is not the first of Mr Trump’s new administration appointees to have a background in TV.

The president-elect made former Fox News commentator and National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth his defence secretary and named celebrity doctor and former TV host, Mehmet Oz, as his administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The co-manager for Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign has called Lord Mandelson an “absolute moron” – as the peer was officially announced as the next UK ambassador to the US.

The Labour grandee, who served in Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s cabinets, will become the UK’s top diplomat in Washington as president-elect Trump returns to the White House in January.

In a post on X, Chris LaCivita linked to an article in The Daily Telegraph which reported on Lord Mandelson describing Mr Trump as “a danger to the world”.

The peer also described Mr Trump as “little short of a white nationalist and racist” during an interview with an Italian journalist in 2019, according to the newspaper.

In the post on X, Mr LaCivita said: “This UK govt is special replace a professional universally respected Ambo with an absolute moron – he should stay home! SAD!”

He added the headline of the piece in his post: “Mandelson described Trump as a danger to the world and ‘little short of a white nationalist’.”

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the post.

The 71-year-old said: “We face challenges in Britain but also big opportunities and it will be a privilege to work with the government to land those opportunities, both for our economy and our nation’s security, and to advance our historic alliance with the United States.”

The prime minister said: “The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength.”

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Sir Keir also thanked outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce, who will leave the post at the beginning of next year.

“I would also like to thank Dame Karen Pierce for her invaluable service for the last four years, and in particular the wisdom and steadfast support she has given me personally since July,” he said.

“She made history as the first woman to serve as UK ambassador to the US and she has been an outstanding representative of our country abroad. I wish her all the very best in future.”

Lord Mandelson was one of the key architects of New Labour and helped the party return to power in the 1990s.

He served as Sir Tony’s trade secretary and Northern Ireland secretary before standing down as an MP in 2004 to become a European Commissioner.

After Mr Brown awarded him a peerage in 2008, Lord Mandelson returned to government as business secretary.

The US government has narrowly avoided a crippling shutdown after politicians agreed on a last-minute spending deal.

Failure to reach an agreement would have meant federal employees would have missed pay ahead of the festive season, impacting various public services.

Plans to approve the government’s budget were thrown into disarray this week after billionaire Elon Musk hit out at a bill put forward by Republicans and Democrats.

His opposition was backed by president-elect Donald Trump who wanted to increase the debt ceiling, which caps the amount the government can borrow.

But his revamped plan to suspend the cap for two years lost in a vote on Thursday, putting Congress in a race against time to agree a deal before midnight local time.

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In an 85-11 vote, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the funding bill 38 minutes after it expired at midnight.

Even though the midnight deadline was missed, the government did not invoke shutdown procedures.

The bill will now be sent it to White House where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.

The package had earlier cleared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with bipartisan support, passing overwhelmingly by 336-3 votes.

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