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    Trump has good reason not to want people to watch “The Apprentice.”

    Vaseline Posted on

    Given former President Donald Trump’s litigious nature, it was hardly a surprise that the former president would greet a film devoted to his formative years as a real estate mogul with threats of legal action against “blatantly false claims made by these so-called filmmakers” while Trump was campaigning. Spokesman Steven Cheung noted this in May. Despite this generally aggressive claim, I’d say the Republican presidential candidate has good reasons for not wanting people to see “The Apprentice,” which hits theaters this week.

    It was no surprise that the former president would greet a film about his formative years as a real estate mogul with threats of legal action.

    The film’s most shocking and visceral scene shows the fictional Trump raping his then-wife Ivana, which the real Trump and Ivana deny happened (more on that below). It’s a moment that will likely dominate the conversation. But when it comes to understanding what makes Trump tick, and his often casual relationship with the facts, the rest of the film is unflattering, in timely and emphatically significant ways.

    The film, written by journalist Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi (whose credits include the film “Border” and episodes of HBO’s “The Last of Us”), focuses primarily on Trump’s crucial relationship with Roy Cohn, the attorney general. whose tutelage gives the title a double meaning, given the TV show that has falsified and gilded Trump’s image. “The Apprentice” introduces the young Trump character (played by Sebastian Stan) as he tries to escape the shadow of his domineering father, doing so gradually with considerable help from Cohn, played with over-the-top enthusiasm by Jeremy Strong of “Succession” .

    Cohn sees Trump in a busy, upscale club and takes him under his wing. He first helps him with a lawsuit over allegations of discriminatory leasing practices in his dilapidated apartment buildings, and later with his ambitious development plans in New York.

    “You’re the customer, but you work for me,” the imperious Cohn tells him. “That means you do what I say, when I say.”

    As presented in the film, Cohn – who was actually a mafia lawyer at the time – will do anything to win, including bullying and blackmailing city officials. What “The Apprentice” really captures, however, is how Trump learned from Cohn and adopted and internalized his rules for public combat: “1. Attack, attack, attack. 2. Admit nothing, deny everything. 3. No matter what happens, you claim victory and never admit defeat.”

    Although “The Apprentice” takes the usual dramatic liberties when adapting a fact-based story, many of the broad strokes have been established in previous projects such as the documentary “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” from 2019. The title quotes Trump during his time in the White House, with author Michael Wolff reporting that he occasionally asked out loud, “Where’s my Roy Cohn,” frustrated by his inability to find lawyers to give him a bare-knuckle would represent as Cohn did. .

    As is so often the case (and any “Star Wars” fan can relate), the apprentice eventually became the master. And Cohn’s declining health due to AIDS makes him one of many people Trump uses and discards during his rise to the top.

    Though far from modest when he meets Cohn, Trump is still developing his trademark swagger. Cohn is shown sniffing Trump around and introducing him to the right people, including Andy Warhol, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, political operative Roger Stone and publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch (“Rupert is going to be the key to you,” Cohn tells him).

    In addition to Cohn, the film also explores Trump’s relationship with his first wife Ivana, whom he aggressively pursues, marries and eventually tires of. Their deteriorating relationship culminates in the brutal encounter she cited in a statement regarding their divorce, which, as The New Yorker detailed, she first tried to clarify and later disavowed as a story “without merit.” (Ivana is played by Maria Bakalova, who first gained attention for her role in the Borat sequel and her hotel room interaction with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.)

    Trump’s campaign has dismissed “The Apprentice” as “pure fiction” and “malicious slander.”

    Trump’s campaign has dismissed “The Apprentice” as “pure fiction” and “malicious slander.” Still, any studious observer of Trump can see how his broad rationale rings true, especially Cohn’s advice to claim victory no matter what, and his declarations “There is no ‘truth,’ with a capital T” and “Truth is a malleable something. ”

    Trump’s behavior in public life, especially over the past decade, underlines how he took these lessons to heart. When the truth doesn’t matter, lying becomes not just a strategy, but a kind of protective armor.

    In that sense, ‘The Apprentice’ is the oldest origin story, in which the mentor discovers the hard way how well he has done his job.

    Vaseline
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