The Apprentice is a drama film about Donald Trump's early years. It focuses on Donald Trump's move from being a young entrepreneur to becoming a public figure.
Set during the formative years of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the real estate deals and lawyer Roy Cohn's pursuit of power, publicity, and litigation, The Apprentice is a character study and a chronicle of the early business decisions that paved the way for the polarising figure in modern history that Trump would become.
The film received critical acclaim for its performances, but Donald Trump wasn’t thrilled about it and filed a lawsuit threatening to block its release. Ali Abbasi, the director, and Gabriel Sherman, the screenwriter, were both threatened by Trump's lawsuit to block the film's release.
However, in August, Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the theatrical rights and intends to release the film before the presidential election. The film was released in the United States on October 11, 2024.
Donald Trump’s reaction to The Apprentice
US President Donald Trump was disturbed by The Apprentice, a new biopic by Ali Abbasi that chronicles his rise as a successful businessman in the 1980s. The film was released in 1,700 cinemas across the US and grossed just $1.6 million in its first weekend. Trump immediately denounced it as "fake and classless" on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The Apprentice traces the history of the former president as played by Sebastian Stan. She also revealed an interaction between him and his ex-wife Ivana. This story includes a scene in which he is accused of assault, an accusation that was used as a reason for his and Ivana's separation. In due course, however, he would retract it.
In order to portray a realistic transformation of Trump on screen, Abbasi focused more on the subtleties of his personality than on his appearance.
Trump's team tried to stop the film from being shown when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, sending a warning letter to Abbasi in May. But the film was released while Trump had been running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election.
How much of the events shown in The Apprentice happened?
The movie has reportedly been fact-checked for accuracy, but Trump's team has been denying them all.
The Apprentice finds a way to delve into this possibility by its version of the mentorship in place of Donald Trump and Roy Cohn during the 1970s and 80s.
In 1970, young Donald Trump, son of real estate mogul Fred Trump, was champing at the bit to expand the family business beyond the outer boroughs of New York City. His father concentrated on affordable housing projects, but Donald wanted to enter Manhattan's high-end real estate to become a mighty business leader.
This thrust for riches and reputation pushed Donald Trump's ambitions forward. But business practices had controversy even then. In 1973, the US Department of Justice indicted Trump Management for discriminatory practices against African-American tenants.
A federal investigation found that Trump Management kept black families from renting apartments while giving preference to white tenants, a case that could have damaged the Trump family's reputation.
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At this point, there entered his life a highly important figure: Roy Cohn, an attorney known for his ruthless tactics. Cohn was partly responsible for the espionage case of the Rosenbergs in 1953 when they were executed. He was also closely associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist purges in the 1950s.
The movie focuses more on the relationship between Trump and Cohn. Cohn feels an urge to offer himself as Trump's legal counselor and coach because he knows of Trump's ambition and his willingness to play around with the rules.
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