Former U.S. President Donald Trump—the presumed Republican nominee for the presidential election next November—has threatened to sue film director Ali Abbasi for his docu-drama entitled “The Apprentice.” It received a robust applause at the Cannes Film Festival at France in May. The film is an expose of Donald Trump’s ruthless rise to power as a real estate mogul in New York City. Rolling Stone says it is “the most brutal Donald Trump biopic imaginable.” One scene is about Donald raping his wife Ivana, which she admitted early on, but years later denied. One wonders if her later denial was due to a NDA she signed with Donald which involved money. Of course, the title of the film refers to Trump’s success in “The Apprentice” TV series.
Resistance to “The Apprentice” Film
There is considerable interest in this film. It is especially timely due to the ongoing presidential election campaign between Trump and President Joe Biden. Yet, besides Trump’s threat against this film, it appears that considerable efforts are being made to prevent its showing. One such alleged effort is by Daniel Snyder, former owner of the Washington Commanders. He is the main investor of the film production company Kinematics, which is attempting to block the distribution of “The Apprentice” film in the U.S. So far, the film has not gotten an American distributor. Hollywood studios apparently are being threatened to not take it on, though this is being denied by some in the industry.
“Where’s My Roy Cohn”—The Donald
A major feature in the film is the New York City lawyer Roy Cohn. I have a piece about him in my book, Bible Predicts Trump Fall, which is as follows:
Roy Cohn. They say, “You can’t fight City Hall;” but not according to Roy Cohn (1927-1986). He was a Jewish, only-child who became a New York City attorney. He had steely eyes that stared and a calming ability to talk. He rose to prominence in the mid-1950s as chief aid to Republican Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin. McCarthy caused a stir throughout the nation as an anti-Communist crusader. He did so by using a panel to conduct televised Senate hearings that investigated infiltration of Communist ideology in the upper echelons of society. He especially targeted Hollywood actors and Army officers. It reportedly ruined many careers, especially in the arts. But Joseph McCarthy himself was a fraud and an alcoholic. He died soon afterwards of hepatitis in disgrace as a lonely bachelor at age 48. Many have accused Roy Cohn of grandstanding to get ahead in the world through Senator Joe McCarthy.
Roy Cohn met Donald Trump in 1971 at the members-only nightclub Le Club. Donald was 24 years old. (Roy Cohn was a regular at Studio 54.) Donald immediately told him, “The government has just filed suit against our company, saying that we discriminated against blacks. . . . What do you think I should do?” Cohn said, “Tell them to go to hell and fight the thing in court and let them prove you discriminated” (Vanity Fair, August, 2017).
For that, Cohn became the Trumps’ lawyer and Donald’s tutor for the next thirteen years. Roy taught Donald to fight City Hall through the courts to get whatever he wanted as a real estate developer. Cohn instilled in young Donald a tenacious spirit to never give up, never regret, and never admit defeat.
Donald Trump got his penchant for threatening people with lawsuits from Roy Cohn. New York City lawyer Victor A. Kovner said of Roy Cohn, “You knew when you were in Cohn’s presence you were in the presence of pure evil.” Columnist Liz Smith said, “Donald lost his moral compass when he made an alliance with Roy Cohn” (Vanity Fair, August, 2017). Mary L. Trump says Cohn had a “vicious temperament . . . was subject to no rules” and became “very rich, very successful, and very powerful” (M. Trump, Too Much and Never Enough, 101).
During the 1980s, Roy Cohn became a criminal defense lawyer for several New York Mafia figures, such as John Gotti of the Gambino family. Cohn socialized in elite circles, even among politicians. In 1986, New York State disbarred Roy Cohn for unethical legal practices. He was indicted four times, though he always got acquitted. Cohn was a lifetime bachelor and allegedly a homosexual who contracted AIDS, though he denied both. After Cohn’s decease, Donald made famous around New York City the saying, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?”
(Hollywood made an extremely critical, 1.5-hour documentary of Roy Cohn’s life titled “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” Donald Trump always needed good lawyers.)
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