Alan Cumming publicly invited former president Donald Trump to compete on the Peacock reality competition The Traitors on Sunday, saying Trump would bring “chaos and turmoil” to the series as the show celebrated multiple Emmy wins.
Cumming, the show’s host, made the remark in the press room backstage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles after The Traitors won Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 2025 Emmy Awards. “Well, I’m sure our president would be very good on the show,” Cumming said. “I’m sure he’d have a little chaos and turmoil and treachery, so maybe he’d like to come on and be paid for that, probably better than he gets as president.”
Cumming, 60, has been openly critical of Trump, and earlier this year told Vanity Fair that the idea of the former president or figures from his circle joining the show was “not appetizing” and “too soon.” Trump, 79, previously served as host of NBC’s The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice for 14 seasons; Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeded him on the franchise in 2015 when Trump ran for president.
The Traitors premiered in 2023 and places contestants, including celebrities and reality stars, in a Scottish castle to play a murder-mystery style game for a $250,000 prize. The cast has drawn participants from programs such as Survivor, The Real Housewives, Big Brother, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Love Island and The Bachelor.
Season 4 has finished filming and is scheduled to debut in 2026. Producers have confirmed a lineup that includes Donna Kelce, comedians Michael Rapaport and Ron Funches, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Monet X Change, Survivor winners Natalie Anderson and Yam Yam Arocho, and Olympic figure skaters Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, among others.
The Traitors swept all five Emmy categories for which it was nominated this year, including Outstanding Reality Competition Program and Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program, the latter again awarded to Cumming. Accepting the program award onstage, Cumming said, “It’s a difficult time we live in, but it’s so great that our show brings a little bit of joy into this life,” and thanked viewers who hold watch parties and dress as him.
NBC has announced an all-civilian version of The Traitors with Cumming set to host. At the Televerse 2025 conference last month, Cumming said the civilian edition would mean more to its participants financially and called the idea “a hoot.”
The Traitors’ competitive format and high-profile casting have helped it gain attention within the reality-television field, and its recent Emmy haul marks the second consecutive year the series received the top program award. The program’s producers have mixed reality stars and mainstream celebrities to broaden the series’ appeal and to fuel strategic alliances and betrayals that drive viewer interest.
Cumming’s onstage and press-room comments come amid ongoing public interest in how media and politics intersect. Trump’s television history, including his years on The Apprentice, has been cited frequently in discussions of his public persona and post-presidential media appearances. The Traitors’ producers have not announced any contact with Trump regarding participation in the series.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Peacock and NBC declined to comment beyond the information released about upcoming casting and the civilian edition.
The Traitors’ success at the Emmys and Cumming’s public invitation underscore the continuing blending of celebrity reality television and political figures, a dynamic that network executives and producers have navigated in varied ways since the 2000s. Sunday’s remarks may prompt further discussion about whether high-profile political figures should appear on competitive-entertainment programming and how such appearances are perceived by audiences and industry peers.