The ApprenticeSebastian Stan eerily embodies young Donald Trump in trailer for
Published on December 13, 2025 EDT

Well before he starred on The Apprentice, Donald Trump himself was an apprentice to none other than infamous attorney Roy Cohn.

This mentorship is teased in the newly released trailer (below) for new Trump origin story — also fittingly dubbed The Apprentice — which notably features Sebastian Stan in an eerie take on a young Trump. Succession star Jeremy Strong also stands out as Cohn, known for sending the Rosenbergs to the electric chair during the Red Scare, and later for serving as Trump's lawyer when he was accused of violating the Fair Housing Act.

"Donald who?" Strong's Cohn asks when Trump comes knocking at his door. It seems like a strange question, considering how much Trump has infiltrated culture and politics these days, but it's also a good reminder that he wouldn't be Trump if not for Cohn.

Cohn's rules for success are Trump's current playbook. "The first rule is: Attack, attack, attack," he says in the trailer. "Rule 2: Admit nothing, deny everything. Rule 3: No matter what happens, you claim victory and never admit defeat.... You have to be willing to anything to anyone to win."

Directed by Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider, Border) and written by journalist Gabriel Sherman, the biopic chronicles the rise of the former president and convicted felon as a real estate mogul in the 1970s and '80s. It also depicts his first marriage to Ivana Trump, played by Borat Subsequent Moviefilm breakout Maria Bakalova.

Rounding out the cast are Martin Donovan (Weeds, Tenet, Ant-Man) as Donald’s dad, Fred Trump, and Joe Pingue (The Expanse, The Book of Eli) as mob boss Anthony Salerno.

An international version of The Apprentice trailer was also released today, and it offers more glimpses of Strong as Cohn. "Don't you forget, I made you," he says in one moment of the trailer.

The trailer also shows Trump looking at a campaign button for Ronald Reagan that states, "Let's Make America Great Again!"

"Well, I like the again part," Stan's Trump says.

Much like its subject, the film has been the source of many headlines this year. Not long after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the Trump campaign threatened legal action. It also sent a cease-and-desist letter in an attempt to block the movie's release.

Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc./Profile Productions 2 Aps/Tailored Films Ltd. 2024

Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc./Profile Productions 2 Aps/Tailored Films Ltd. 2024

“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement at the time. “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked. As with the illegal Biden Trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.”

According to Variety, in response, Abbasi said he'd welcome the chance to screen the film for Trump, adding, "I don’t necessarily think that this is a movie he would dislike.”

Abbasi continued, “I don’t necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised, you know? And like I’ve 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’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign.”

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The Apprentice hits theaters Oct. 11. Watch both trailers for the film, above.

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