Donald Trump sits behind his desk on the 26th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan. It is 2pm, and he has just got off the phone with America's most famous football player, Tom Brady.

Into the office walks Ernie Boch Jr, a billionaire car salesman with shoulder-length hair and black leather pants. "Holy shit," Boch says. "It's Donald Trump!"

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So begins one 24-hour episode of the Donald Trump Show, a political satire about a billionaire celebrity who runs for president, breaks every rule in the manual, and becomes the frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House, beating all the senators and governors running for the Republican nomination by double digits in the polls.

Now Boch Jr is in his office, explaining that he wants to host a fundraiser for Trump at his 16,000-square foot mansion in Massachusetts. The fellow plutocrat, who has made a fortune selling cars in New England, is awestruck by Trump. "He has you shaking in your boots before you even meet him," he says after the meeting. "When that elevator opens, you can feel the power."

He decided to lend Trump his support a few weeks ago, when he was at home, flipping through TV channels in search for something to watch. He noticed Trump was on every channel. "I stopped and I said to myself: man, this guy is running for president," he says. "How great would it be to get him to my house?"

Roger Stone, a longtime political adviser to Trump until he parted ways with the campaign a week ago, argues that television, and a unique celebrity persona, is central to Trump's success as a presidential candidate.

"Fifteen series of The Apprentice has made Trump a polished television performer," Stone says. "If you look at the show he looks like a decisive, tough leader, in the high-back chair, perfectly lit, perfectly made-up, making decisions."

Stone, who used to work for Ronald Reagan, recalls how in 1980 a reporter asked the then presidential candidate how an actor could possibly occupy the White House. Reagan replied: "How can a president not be an actor?"

Stone adds: "The voters don't distinguish between reality TV and politics."