'Pre-emptively capitulating to him': Why US audiences may not see Trump biopic

14 June 2024

"The Apprentice" is not only the name of the hit reality show that featured Donald Trump during the 2000s — it is also the title of director Ali Abbasi's new movie about the former president's relationship with controversial attorney Roy Cohn, who served as counsel to the infamous Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) during the 1950s before representing a young Trump during the 1970s.

Sebastian Stan portrays Trump in the movie, while Jeremy Strong plays Cohn. And the late Ivana Trump, the former president's first wife, is played by Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova.

The New York Times' Michelle Goldberg discusses the film in her June 14 column, arguing that Trump and his allies are making a concerted effort to prevent U.S. audiences from seeing it.

Noting that "The Apprentice" paints Trump and Cohn in a negative light, Goldberg writes, "I wish you could see it. Unfortunately, you may not get a chance to anytime soon, at least in the United States. Distributors have bought the rights to 'The Apprentice' in Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and many other countries. But the filmmakers have yet to secure a deal to release it here, either theatrically or on streaming services."

The Times columnist continues, "Negotiations are ongoing, and domestic distribution could still come together. Yet the possibility that American audiences won't be able to see 'The Apprentice' isn't just frustrating. It's frightening, because it suggests that Trump and his supporters have already intimidated some media companies, which seem to be pre-emptively capitulating to him."

According to Goldberg, "media companies" may fear retaliation from a second Trump Administration if he defeats President Joe Biden in the 2024 election in November.

"In a second Trump term," Goldberg warns, "the Department of Justice is expected to be far more aggressive in persecuting Trump's perceived enemies. Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official who has been floated as a possible acting attorney general in a Trump restoration, boasted to Steve Bannon of plans to target journalists for rejecting Trump's lies about a stolen 2020 election: 'We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly,' Patel said."

Goldberg adds, "They could go after anyone involved with 'The Apprentice' in the same way. In a cease-and-desist letter to the filmmakers, a lawyer for Trump claimed, absurdly, that the movie is 'direct foreign interference in America's elections,' citing the fact that its director, Ali Abbasi, is Iranian-Danish and that the movie received funding from Denmark, Ireland and Canada."

Michelle Goldberg's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

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