Donald Trump Has A Fiery Response To His Disturbing Portrayal In The Apprentice Movie

This article contains mentions of sexual assault

Donald Trump's campaign has chimed in on "The Apprentice," a film about the former president. The film, which follows Trump in the 1980s, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and earned an overall fairly positive reception from critics as well as a seven-minute-long standing ovation. As far as the Trump campaign communications director, Steven Cheung, is concerned, though, this film, which portrays Trump being seduced by money and power, is not an accurate portrayal of Trump's life. "This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked," he said in a statement (via the BBC).

Sebastian Stan, also known as Bucky Barnes from the "Captain America" series, has already received rave reviews for taking on the intimidating task of playing a young Trump navigating the business world. He stars in the film, which was written by Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi. Jeremy Strong, who raked in many awards for his role as Kendall Roy in HBO's hit series, "Succession," plays Roy Cohn, Trump's lawyer and a key player in helping him climb the ladder to success.

As one might expect from a film centering on Trump that was rushed to premiere in the thick of an election year, this movie doesn't shy away from controversial scenes and assertions. Cheung claimed in his statement that the film "is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked."

One of the aspects of the film Donald Trump and his team are likely upset by is a scene in which Trump sexually assaults Ivana Trump, his first wife and the mother of three of his children. Ivana accused Trump of assaulting her in a deposition during their tumultuous divorce proceedings in the '90s, but he denied any wrongdoing and Ivana later clarified (via the Daily Beast) that she "felt violated ... but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense." Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, denied the accusation again in 2015, telling the Daily Beast: "You're talking about the frontrunner for the GOP, presidential candidate, as well as a private individual who never raped anybody. And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can't rape your spouse."

Director Ali Abbasi defended the film, telling the press at Cannes (via the BBC): "Donald's team should wait to watch the movie before they start suing us. I don't ... think this is a movie that he would dislike." In the movie's press notes (via AP), Abbasi says: "This is not a biopic of Donald Trump. ... We're interested in telling a very specific story through his relationship with Roy and Roy's relationship with him."

Steven Cheung has stated that the Trump campaign intends to sue the filmmakers. Unfortunately for the Trump campaign, this won't stop the public from seeing the film. It doesn't scare Abbasi, either. Per Deadline, he told reporters at Cannes, "Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people, they don't talk about his success rate [with those lawsuits]."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).