CANNES, France (AP) 鈥� Donald Trump鈥檚 reelection campaign called 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥� a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 鈥減ure fiction鈥� and vowed legal action following its premiere at the . But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Following , Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that the Trump team will file a lawsuit 鈥渢o address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers."
鈥淭his garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked," Cheung said.
鈥淭he Apprentice鈥� stars Sebastian Stan as Trump. The central relationship of the movie is between Trump and (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who was chief counsel to of suspected communists.
Asked about the Trump campaign's statement Tuesday in Cannes, Abbasi told reporters: 鈥淓verybody talks about him suing a lot of people 鈥� they don鈥檛 talk about his success rate though, you know?鈥�
But the Iranian Danish director also struck a less combative tone as he discussed the film at its festival press conference. He offered to screen 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥� for Trump and talk it over.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 necessarily think that this is a movie he would dislike," . 鈥淚 don鈥檛 necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised, you know? And like I鈥檝e said before, I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that鈥檚 interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign.鈥�
In the film, Cohn is depicted as a longtime mentor to Trump, coaching him in the ruthlessness of New York City politics and business. Early on, Cohn aided the Trump Organization when it was being sued by the federal government for racial discrimination in housing.
鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥� which is labeled as inspired by true events, portrays Trump鈥檚 dealings with Cohn as a Faustian bargain that guided his rise as a businessman and, later, as a politician. Stan鈥檚 Trump is initially a more naive real estate striver, soon transformed by Cohn鈥檚 education.
The film notably contains a scene depicting Trump raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by ). In Ivana Trump鈥檚 1990 divorce deposition, . Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn鈥檛 mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated.
That scene and others make 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥� a potentially explosive big-screen drama in the midst of the . The film is for sale in Cannes, so it doesn鈥檛 yet have a release date.
After the premiere, Abbasi addressed the Cannes audience, saying 鈥渢here is no nice metaphorical way to deal with the rising wave of fascism.鈥�
鈥淭he good people have been quiet for too long,鈥� he said. "So I think it鈥檚 time to make movies relevant. It鈥檚 time to make movies political again.鈥�
Listing wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, Abbasi, whose previous film " " depicted a serial killer murdering women in Iran, warned of trouble ahead.
鈥淚n the time of turmoil, there's this tendency to look inwards, to bury your head deep in the sand, look inside and hope for the best 鈥� hope for the best, hope for the storm to get away,鈥� Abbasi said. 鈥淏ut the storm is not going to get away. The storm is coming. The worst times are coming.鈥�
The film's premiere unfolded while continued in New York.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
