Kodak, which won a $765 million Trump administration deal to manufacture coronavirus drugs, is a former Celebrity Apprentice sponsor

The Daily Beast

The "sweetheart" deal came under scrutiny last month after it was discovered that Kodak executives cashed out on stock options before the deal was announced, resulting in an investigation that has left the deal in limbo. "Since the late July announcement of a deal for Kodak to manufacture ingredients for COVID-19 drugs, much attention has been paid to the company’s substantial efforts to ingratiate itself with the Trump administration," reports The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay. "And, it turned out, Kodak did dramatically ramp up its lobbying activities in the months prior, dropping an unprecedented $870,000 on its DC influence operation in the second quarter of the year. But the company had another unique and less well-known political asset: a longstanding business relationship with Donald Trump himself." Kodak paid for promotional spots on Celebrity Apprentice, and Donald Trump even plugged the company on air.