Donald Trump has branded Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice a “fake and classless movie” and “politically disgusting hatchet job” after the film opened in the top 10 at the North American box office over the weekend.
The former US president, who is vying to return to the White House when voters go to the polls on November 5, took umbrage over the dark drama, which chronicles Trump’s coming-of-age in the 1970s and 1980s under the tutelage of McCarthyite and attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong).
Posting on the Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump also claimed the film’s release through Briarcliff Entertainment was designed “to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Seemingly referring to a scene in which Trump, portrayed by Sebastian Stan, sexually assaults his wife Ivana Trump, played by Maria Bakalova, Trump said, “My former wife, Ivana, was a kind and wonderful person, and I had a great relationship with her until the day she died.”
He continued, “The writer of this pile of garbage, Gabe Sherman, a lowlife and talentless hack, who has long been widely discredited, knew that, but chose to ignore it.” It was unclear at time of writing if Trump had seen The Apprentice.
In one scene in The Apprentice, Trump is seen assaulting Ivana. His first wife, who died in 2022, initially referred to the 1989 incident as rape, and spoke about it in the couple’s divorce a year later. Several years later she said she did not want her words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.
On Monday Abbasi responded with, “Hi Mr. Trump is am [sic] available for further chat if you are free.” The comment repeated in essence an invitation the filmmaker made back in May, shortly after The Apprentice had received its world premiere in Cannes, for Trump to see the film.
In May, Trump’s campaign sent a cease and desist letter to the production threatening legal action. After no buyers stepped up, Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff acquired the film, completing the acquisition on August 31.
The film opened over the weekend and earned $1.6m from 1,740 locations. It has played at Telluride and Toronto premieres and Briarcliff is mounting an awards campaign.
Last week Roger Stone, the Libertarian and Trump ally, posted on X: ”I knew Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn was a friend of mine. The portrayal of Roy Cohn by actor Jeremy Strong in the new movie “The Apprentice ” is uncanny in it’s [sic] accuracy.”
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