Roy Cohn teaches dunce Donald Trump in first The Apprentice trailer

Per the synopsis, “A young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), eager to make his name as a hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.”

Reporting about the distribution drama behind The Apprentice noted that backer Dan Snyder (a Trump donor) was infuriated to discover the film was more unflattering than he realized, with particular attention given to a scene where Trump sexually assaults his wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova). The most unflattering part of the movie, however, seems to be that young Trump is depicted as an unrefined, uncultured, unattractive dunce whom Cohn had to bully into becoming a power player. Hey, if the shoe fits, right?

Regardless, the trailer lays out the most important lessons from Cohn, who came to prominence as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy during his witch hunt investigations into suspected communists. Cohn’s rules, which should be familiar to anyone who pays attention to Trump’s M.O., are as follows: one, “Attack, attack, attack,” two, “Deny everything, admit nothing,” and three, “Never admit defeat.” Trump may be a dunce, but he clearly took his time as Cohn’s apprentice to heart.