Donald Trump is often seen as a controversial and polarizing figure whose image is shaped by a variety of business and political decisions. Born in Queens, New York, he grew up in a wealthy environment where his father, Fred Trump, was an influential real estate developer.
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Discussion about The Apprentice biopic
Trump's family and his rise to success has been the centre of conversation over the years, but now more than ever as he runs to be President of the United States once again. In 2024, a biopic about his life called The Apprenticewas released, and while Donald Trump is not enthusiastic about it at all, it has raised many questioned about the business mogul. Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump's bestseller The Art of the Deal, a book he now says is an 'unintended work of fiction', has also commented on his portrayal in the film.
Writing a guest article for The New York Times, Schwartz gives his account of the film, in the perspective of someone who has collaborated with Trump on a deep level. He writes that while filmmakers did take artistic liberties while making the biopic and people can debate which events are true or false, the 'movie felt emotionally true' to him. He adds:
...and consistent with the Donald Trump I came to know three decades ago.
Tony Schwartz claims Donald Trump suffers from mental illness
Schwartz notes that the focus of the film is less on Donald Trump's rise to power, and more so on the generational trauma that ensues in the family and how it impacted the former President.
The journalist focuses his article on two lessons that he learnt while working with Trump and watching him over the years. Two lessons that were 'crystallized' when he watched the film.
The first lesson
The first lesson is that a lack of conscientiousness can be a great advantage when it comes to gaining power, attention and wealth in a society where most other people abide by a social contract.
Indeed, the writer recalls late-night phone calls from Donald Trump in which he described his successes while concealing his financial difficulties and failed businesses. He claims that Donald Trump has developed a routine of lying, and he doesn't feel any shame in doing so. He said:
I did not yet realize that he routinely lied as easily as he breathed, including to me for his own memoir, and without a hint of a guilty conscience.
The former president is also described by Tony Schwartz as insecure and lacking self-awareness, according to The Independent. He said:
What struck me from the first day I met Mr. Trump was his unquenchable thirst to be the center of attention. No amount of external recognition ever seemed to be enough.
The second lesson
The second lesson that he learnt is that 'nothing we get for ourselves from the outside world can ever adequately replace what we lack on the inside.'
Schwartz goes on to talk about his childhood, which was characterized by a lack of unconditional love from his father Fred—a man who was 'openly disdainful of any acknowledgment or expression of weakness or vulnerability'. He explains that given his father's characteristics, Trump 'buried' the need to feel safe and worthy, feelings that are usually provided by primary caretakers.
From my observations — and what the movie details — that kind of love was never available to Mr. Trump or to his siblings.
Instead he prized the business-like relationship he and his father had. Trump said in The Art of the Deal:
I was drawn to business very early, and I was never intimidated by my father the way most people were. I stood up to him and he respected that. We had a relationship that was almost businesslike.
The writer also comments on the various unsettling behaviors and characteristics of Trump, some of which he says are associated with psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder.
But more importantly, the writer stresses that despite the ups and downs of his life, Donald Trump has not changed since he was a child. It is something that Trump has admitted himself and for Schwartz, that is a serious concern.
He’s essentially the same person today that he was as a child. That is the central warning “The Apprentice” poses, and it comes just weeks before the election.
This article has been adapted from Oh!MyMag DE.
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Sources used:
The Independent: Trump's ghostwriter says 'The Apprentice' bio-pic gets 'most things' right
News.de: Donald Trump: Trump ghostwriter opens up about "The Dons" personality disorder
