American Horror Story

My reaction to the new Trump movie "The Apprentice"

Last night, I had the chance to watch The Apprentice, a gripping drama about the rise of future president Donald Trump in the 1970’s and 80’s, produced by my friends Ryan Donnell Smith and Noor Al Fallah.

It’s not often that a film gets under your skin the way this one did, largely because of Sebastian Stan’s haunting portrayal of Trump. In the film, Trump is depicted as cruel, diabolical, and devoid of humanity; there are early signs of it in the movie due to the cold hearted way Trump was raised by his father Fred, but becomes more and more acute as Trump learns the ropes from the man who was widely considered the father of the dark arts in politics, Roy Cohn.

One of the most disturbing scenes depicts Trump raping his ex-wife Ivana- a scene drawn from a claim Ivana made in 1990, though she later retracted it. Whether or not every detail is strictly factual, much of the film rings scarily true, and it forces us to confront the moral decay embodied by Trump’s persona.

As I walked out of the theater, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the film is disturbingly relevant to the moment we’re in. We are 13 days away from one of the most consequential elections in American history, and The Apprentice is a stark reminder of what we’re truly voting against. The film lays bare the winner-takes-all, knife-fight mentality that Trump thrives on—a politics defined by cruelty, where empathy is mocked as weakness and division is the coin of the realm. This election offers us a chance to move away from that. It’s not just about rejecting Trump the man; it’s about rejecting the entire worldview he represents.

In many ways, the themes of the movie echo recent revelations from Trump’s former Chief of Staff, John Kelly, a retired Four-Star General. Kelly has gone on record describing Trump as a fascist, an admirer of Hitler, and someone fundamentally unfit for office. It’s chilling to hear these things from someone who worked closely with him. Kelly’s comments add a layer of urgency to the themes explored in The Apprentice—that this isn’t just about bad policy or incompetence, but about a leader who is actively destructive and dangerously authoritarian.

Toxic masculinity is another powerful thread running through both the film and our political discourse. Trump’s entire persona—bombastic, domineering, and emotionally stunted—is a perfect embodiment of toxic masculinity. There’s a particularly powerful scene in The Apprentice, which shows Donald soon after the death of his brother Fred Jr. who died of alcoholism. In it we see Donald, after coming from the funeral, burst into tears in front of his wife Ivana who tries to comfort him. He quickly after pulls himself together and then angrily scolds his wife for trying to console him, denying he was emotional in the first place.

It’s not unlike what I’ve been seeing in the American Crime Story series based on Aaron Hernandez, on Hulu. Hernandez, too, became a victim of a culture that glorifies violence, dominance, and the suppression of vulnerability. He ultimately became a monster, molded by societal expectations that twisted him into something tragic and destructive. Trump, though different in many ways, is similarly a product of a system that rewards brutality, deceit, and the absence of kindness.

This election feels unlike any I’ve experienced. In 2016, for all my misgivings, I had a sense of where things were headed—though, like many, I was wrong. This time, I don’t know what to expect. The polls are all over the place- some show Trump up, others have him trailing. The early vote totals from key battleground states like Arizona and Nevada are not encouraging for Democrats. The uncertainty is palpable, and for the first time, I truly don’t know what’s going to happen.

I can only hope and pray that this country makes the right choice. We cannot afford another four years of leadership that thrives on hate and division. This election is about more than policy or partisanship-it’s about the soul of America. I pray that we all turn out to vote, that we elect Kamala Harris as president, and that we put a stop to this man’s re-election. Good luck, America. We’re going to need it.