A prescient 2020 documentary about how Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential election reveals some of the underlying factors in the electorate that allowed him to win again in 2024. Click for Amazon w/trailer.
Most of the films about or involving Trump – now likely a couple hundred or more — are documentaries, and a few are made-for-TV docu-dramas or theatrical release.
As will be shown below, some planned biopics on Trump date to the late 1980s, though not always completed in a timely fashion due to litigation or other problems.
But most of the long-form film productions, with Trump as film star and/or principal subject – apart from early TV interviews, talk shows, and news clips – those began in the early-to-mid 2000s, in the wake of his rise in national notice, first as TV star on The Apprentice (noted in the first selection below), and later with his subsequent presidential bids.
The listing that follows here is a partial sampling of those films, including some of the more probing and critical documentaries produced by A&E’s Biography series, the History Channel, CNN, the BBC, PBS Frontline, and others, each with dates, brief descriptions, commentary, or reviews — some with excerpts or summaries from Amazon, Wikipedia, IMDB, and others.
Many of the films listed here are also available in DVD format and/or via streaming, some with free trailers. A number of images or links in this story connect to Amazon pages.
The Apprentice TV shows, in various formats and sometimes with two “seasons” per year, ran for nearly 15 years, with Donald Trump as host for 11 of those years.
2004-2007
The Apprentice
Probably no other filming entity did more to burnish the image of Donald Trump than did The Apprentice TV show – serving as his springboard to bigger ventures ahead.
Broadcast in America by NBC, The Apprentice was a reality TV show that judged the business skills of a group of contestants. It ran in various formats from 2004 to 2017 (also as Celebrity Apprentice, see later below).
The Apprentice was created by British television producer Mark Burnett, and co-produced with Donald Trump, who was the show’s host. Seven of the show’s seasons featured 14-to-18 aspiring, but otherwise unknown, businesspeople who would vie for the show’s prize, a one-year $250,000 starting contract to promote one of Donald Trump’s properties.
DVD cover for “The Apprentice” TV show with host Donald Trump, for the first season. Click for Amazon.
The audience numbers for the show steadily declined following the first season. As Wikipedia has noted:
“Although the series was one of the most-watched programs on NBC in the advertiser-friendly 18–49 age demographic, the franchise’s total audience gradually dissolved, starting in late 2004, when it aired its second season culminating in what some Apprentice fans deemed an “overextended” 3-hour season finale on December 16, 2004…”
The show had a high of 20.7 million prime time viewers in season 1 of 2004, with 28.1 million viewers for that season’s finale, then declining in years thereafter to lows of 4.7 million and 4.6 million respectively for the 2010 shows.
Initially hesitant to do the show, and once quoted as saying that reality television “was for the bottom-feeders of society,” The Apprentice would prove a lucrative venture for Trump, as he would earn $214 million from 14 seasons of the show according to the Washington Post, plus more from related product licensing as his brand name became more valuable. The show frequently featured and promoted his properties, products and brand. Melania Trump was also featured on the show several times, along with her fashion and cosmetic products, as were Ivanka Trump’s fashion products.
The Celebrity Apprentice TV show continued The Apprentice show in a somewhat new format, with Trump continuing as host, 2008-2015.
However, Trump’s outspoken comments and off-show activities began to come into play. After he began to publicly question whether President Barack Obama was born in the U.S., for example, The Apprentice was criticized for its involvement with Trump. Some people publicly called for NBC to fire Trump from his role on The Apprentice. Industry media speculated about the extent to which Trump’s media comments may have contributed to the show’s ratings decline.
“Donald, You’re Fired!” In late June 2015, Trump was fired by NBC when the studio disagreed with derogatory remarks he made about Mexican immigrants during his announcement that he was running for President on June 16, 2015. By September 2015 NBC announced that actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarz-enegger would become the new host of The Celebrity Apprentice, starting January 2017. But apparently Trump was still watching the show and wasn’t hesitant about offering his views. Following repeated criticisms from Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to do another season of The Celebrity Apprentice after hosting only one season — although Trump stated that Schwarzenegger was fired.
For Trump, however, The Apprentice shows and audience over more than decade, would contribute mightily to his fame and national following, and later his political base of true believers. See, for example, this PBS/Frontline segment on Trump and The Apprentice, and also the book, Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America.
1991-2015 / Early Documentary
Trump: What’s The Deal?
One of the first investigative documentary films about Donald Trump was begun before he was an Apprentice star, and focused on his New York business dealings. This film has an interesting history behind it. In 1988, Leonard Stern, a competing New York real-estate developer, a rival to Trump, was financing work on the film, titled, “Trump: What’s the Deal?” At the time, Stern also owned The Village Voice and another publication, 7 Days, which had also probed some of Trump’s New York activities.
 September 4, 1989, New York magazine, “Trump vs. Stern: The Unmaking of A Documentary,” about the early fight to block Trump film. |
 After the film’s release online by producer Libby Handros in 2015 under an alternate title, the film now uses its original title. Click for Amazon. |
When Trump learned that Stern’s film was being made, he began to try and stop it and prevent it from being aired. According to then producer of the film, Ned Schnurman, a former PBS creator, Trump was “threatening litigation before, during, and after the airing of the program.” The full story is told by New York magazine in a September 1989 story titled, “Trump vs. Stern: The Unmaking of a Documentary,” by Edwin Diamond, who laid out all the details of Trump-Stern fight — including a claim Trump made about Stern’s wife. The blocked film was also written about in the New York Times.
Part of an August 19, 1989 New York Times story about the blocked documentary film on Trump by James Barron, “TV Film on Trump Can't Find a Station”.
Later, the film was briefly screened at a small theater in Bridgehampton, NY in July 1991 – but only for two showings. Thereafter, and for the next 20 years or more, it remained unavailable. However, in September 2015, with Trump in his first run for President, producer Libby Handros posted it online using a different title, “The New Trump. The Old Trump. The Same Trump.” Since then, the film, using its original title, “Trump: What’s The Deal?,” became available at Amazon and elsewhere online with a trailer.
According to Trump author, David Cay Johnston, writing in 2015, “the documentary shows Trump manipulating politicians and the criminal justice system, pocketing millions in taxpayer welfare, not paying people he hired, doing some of his biggest deals with mobsters…,” and more. A brief description at the film’s Amazon’s Prime Video page notes: “Donald Trump is one of the richest and most famous men in America, but on what foundation has his success been built? From accusations of harassment to repeated flirtations with bankruptcy, his very public business career has been one of artifice and intrigue. Originally produced in 1991, ‘Donald Trump: What’s the Deal?’ investigates the unscrupulous reality behind this most public of figures.”
May 2005 / ABC-TV
Trump Unauthorized.
In 2005, ABC produced the biographical TV drama, “Trump Unauthorized.”
Quinn Taylor, a senior vice president for ABC-TV then making the film, said at the time, “Donald Trump is the American version of royalty. He’s probably one of the most fascinating and intriguing men certainly of my generation who has continually kept himself at the top of his game. That he was able to do it is worth exploring….”
Trump by 2005 was already starring in NBC’s reality television series The Apprentice. At that time he said he was surprised that NBC had not already made a television film based on his life. Trump further stated that he was flattered by ABC’s new film and that he wanted it to be accurate. Trump also mentioned that he was a “ratings machine” and, “they know that, and they’re taking advantage of that.” Trump said he did not care if the actor they used to portray him could act or not, “as long as he’s great-looking.”
The film premiered on ABC on May 24, 2005. Trump said that, overall, he was flattered by the film, which he considered to be a cross between Desperate Housewives and Dynasty. He called the film a “great compliment,” despite some inaccuracies. He also noted: “Having a two-hour movie on network television while you’re still living is sort of wild. You’re supposed to be gone for that to happen.” The film received minimal viewership at approximately 5.6 million viewers, which was ABC’s lowest Tuesday numbers of the season. The film had also received mostly negative reviews.
Oct 2009 / ESPN, “30 for 30″ Series
Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?.
ESPN “30-for-30” film, “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?.”(October 2009). Click for DVD at Amazon.
In its inaugural season, the 12-team league played before crowds that averaged 25,000 and garnered respectable TV ratings, winning over new fans. The new league also did the unthinkable by playing in the spring and signing three straight Heisman Trophy winners away from the NFL – Steve Young, Reggie White and Doug Flutie.
But with success came expansion and new owners, including Donald Trump, described in one account as a “high profile and impatient real estate baron.” After the 1983 season, Trump became the major owner of the New Jersey Generals, having backed out of an earlier deal for the team in 1982, as he was then angling for a possible run at the NFL’s Baltimore Colts. But with the Generals, Trump signed Doug Flutie in February 1985, among others, and his team that year – which also included, Herschel Walker – went 11-7. Trump’s vision for the new upstart league, however was at odds with the league’s founders.
As Wikipedia explains Trump’s plan for the Generals and the league:
Feb 1985. Doug Flutie & Donald Trump at New Jersey Generals press conference at Trump Tower. Click for Sport Illustrated.
…Almost from the moment he bought the Generals, Trump sought to use them as a vehicle to get an NFL team. To this end, he began advocating moving the USFL from a spring schedule to a fall schedule, directly opposite the NFL. Trump’s long-term plans called for moving the Generals across the Hudson River to New York…. He intended to have the renamed New York Generals play at Shea until the construction of a new 80,000-seat “Trump Stadium” in Manhattan [that stadium was never built].
In 1984, Trump convinced most of his fellow owners to move to a fall schedule in 1986. He contended that if the USFL were to hold its own against the NFL, it would eventually force a merger with the more established league—in which the owners of any USFL teams included in a merger would see their investment more than double.
The Generals acquired the assets of one of the teams displaced by the vote to move to the fall, the Houston Gamblers… This was widely reported as a merger, since the Generals inherited all of the Gamblers’ player contracts—including those of quarterback Jim Kelly and wide receiver Ricky Sanders…. Fans immediately dubbed the Kelly–Walker led Generals as the USFL’s “Dream Team.”
USFL New Jersey General trading card showing owner Donald Trump with star running back Herschel Walker..
However, in a victory in name only, the USFL was awarded a total judgment of $3, which effectively forced the upstart USFL owners out of business, ending the first try of USFL. The league never played its planned 1986 season, and by the time it folded, it had lost over $163 million (equivalent to nearly $400 million in 2024 dollars).
In his film, award-winning director, Mike Tollin, a former USFL employee, showcased the influence the USFL had on pro football history. As part of the documentary, Tollin also seeks to answer the question of why the USFL failed and concludes that Trump’s actions had a negative effect that led to the league shutting down. Trump, for his part, was highly critical of the documentary, calling it “third rate” and calling Tollin “a loser” and “a sad guy”. Turns out, there’s a lot more history on Trump and pro football, including a public opinion campaign Trump sponsored against Jon Bon Jovi, then a rival bidding interest, during Trump’s attempted purchase of the Buffalo Bills in 2014. Details at this Wikipedia story.
2011-2016 / 3 Documentaries
You’ve Been Trumped.
“You’re Been Trumped,” a 2011-2012 film by Anthony Baxter. Click for DVD at Amazon w/publisher video.
In 2006, Trump purchased some 1,400-acres north of Aberdeen at Menie (Balmedie), Scotland, with the intention of building a £1 billion golf resort there capable of hosting world class events. The development plan for Trump International Golf Links, included two 18-hole courses, a five-star hotel, golf villas, holiday homes, and a golf academy.
As summarized by Wikipedia and various media accounts, Trump’s plan was strongly supported by local business leaders, but met opposition from local residents and others in Scotland and the UK, plus environmental groups concerned about 4,000-year-old sand dunes there designated by the government as a “site of special scientific interest.” Still, by June 2008 government approvals for the Trump project were eventually obtained and work began there in July 2010.
In 2011, a documentary film directed by Scottish citizen, Anthony Baxter, called You’ve Been Trumped, was released, showing some local residents adversely affected by the resort’s construction. The film also contains footage of, among others, economists questioning the benefits claimed for the local economy, environmentalists critical the project’s damages, and others raising doubts about the project, challenging claims by the Trump Organization.
When it was announced that Baxter’s documentary film was to be given its British television premiere on BBC Two on October 21, 2012, Trump’s lawyers demanded the film not be shown, claiming that it was “defamatory” and “misleading.” The screening went ahead anyway. The BBC defended its decision, noting that Trump had repeatedly refused to be interviewed in conjunction with the film.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, writing that the most fascinating aspect of the documentary is “Trump’s almost joyous rudeness” and that “the underlying message is that if you are rich and powerful enough, you can run roughshod over tradition and private property rights and buy your place at the table.” Stephen Holden for the New York Times, described the documentary as an “unabashedly hostile portrait” of Trump, depicting him as “an insensitive, lying bully” who tried to pressure golf course neighbors into selling their properties.
Donald Trump being filmed in what appears to be a promotional video at the site of his then-planed golf course in Scotland. Source: Anthony Baxter's 2011 film,” You've Been Trumped”.
Back in Scotland, Trump and the Trump Organization became concerned about their golf resort investment in 2011 when they learned of a proposed offshore wind farm nearby they believed would impact their project. With one golf course already built, Trump threatened not to build a proposed second golf course as well as the 450- room five-star hotel. The Trump Organization filed official objection to the wind farm with the government, and brought a lawsuit as well, but lost on both counts.
Meanwhile, the golf resort opened on July 10th, 2012. And despite Trump’s threat to withdraw any further investment in Scotland amid the wind turbine controversy, he later purchased the prestigious Turnberry gold resort in Ayrshire, Scotland in April 2014.
In June 2019, Scottish Natural Heritage ruled that Trump’s golf course had “partially destroyed” the sand dune system, causing permanent habitat loss, and recommended that the SSSI status there be revoked, which it was in December 2020. Approval for the second golf course had been obtained by then, and would be named the MacLeod Course after Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod,
 Sept 2014 film, “A Dangerous Game,” about Trump golf courses & broader environmental issues. Click for Amazon. |
 “You've Been Trumped Too,” released before the 2016 presidential election... More on golf course. Click for Amazon. |
As for filmmaker Baxter, he set about making a couple of sequels to his first film. In September 2014, A Dangerous Game was released, continuing, in part, the locals’ struggle with Trump at the first site, but also expanding its scope to include Trump’s plans to build a luxury golf course in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Mount Srd overlooking Dubrovnik, where he again confronts local residents. This film also looks at how luxury golf resorts damage the natural environment in terms of high water and pesticide use while serving a super-rich clientele often at the expense of out-gunned local communities. Another film, You’ve Been Trumped Too, released before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, also continued the story at the first site, then focusing on a 92-year-old woman resident who claimed golf resort construction workers cut off her water supply. Lawyers representing Trump also threatened legal action against the screening of this film.
2015-16 / A&E / History
The Making of Trump
Among the biographical films on Donald Trump, is a 2015 documentary by A&E / History Channel available at Amazon as DVD or Prime Video, the latter of which offers the following in describing the film: “The swagger. The outrageous pronouncements. The ego. The wealth. The hair. This is the story of how Donald John Trump became ‘The Donald.’ And how a kid from Queens took New York City by storm, survived two failed marriages and several failed businesses.” Elsewhere, this two-hour film is described as delving into Donald Trump’s past, “filling in the details and digging up the truth behind his legendary rise, fall and comeback.” Packaging of the film has appeared with two different images at Amazon and elsewhere as shown below.
 Poster image for 2015 A&E documentary film, “The Making of Trump”. Click for Prime Video. |
 DVD cover for 2016 edition of “The Making of Trump.” Click for DVD at Amazon, |
As Trump then was heading into the presidential 2015 campaign, one review of the film at IMDB.com, described it as follows:
…As every day of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign seemingly generates new headlines, this two-hour special examines the increasingly polarizing candidate’s past. Included is rarely seen footage from Trump’s interviews with Phil Donahue and his comments about politics from the floor of the 1988 Republican convention. Additionally, celebrities, politicians, and people described as ‘close to The Donald’ weigh in, including former US Senator Al D’Amato (R-N.Y.), former Atlantic City mayor Jim Whelen, boxer Mike Tyson, and notorious “Apprentice” contestant Omarosa.
Some of the people appearing and/or commenting in this film are: Jonathan Allen, Kurt Andersen, David Axelrod, Rona Barrett, Kate Bohner. Tom Brokaw, Pat Buchanan, George Bush, Jeb Bush, Michael Caputo, Ben Carson, Katie Couric, Alfonse D’amato, Michael D’Antonio, Donny Deutsch, Bo Dietl, Phil Donahue, Doug Flutie and others. Studio: Lionsgate.
2016 / Documentary
Trump: The Apprentice President?
2016 film, “Donald Trump: The Apprentice President?,” Available at Amazon with trailer. Click for film.
In 2016, the French media company, Babel, and director David Muntaner made a one- hour film on Donald Trump as he began his presidential candidacy in 2015. One summary of this film notes:
“Since announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump is everywhere. To him, it seems that nothing is taboo and no policy too outlandish to embrace. Somehow, this billionaire candidate has become the champion of ordinary America, with supporters traveling hundreds of miles just to see him.”
Another film note by its producers further explains:
“…To understand this [Trump] phenomenon, we followed his campaign across the country for 200 days. In the beginning, he met his supporters in small rooms and the media was often absent. But quickly, he started packing rallies and the ‘Trump Show’ developed.”
“On stage, he provoked immigrants and Muslims, women and minorities. But behind the scenes, he was tightly managing a slick media campaign and shutting out journalists….”
“We go behind the image and talk to his childhood friends and billionaire buddies, as well as his critics and those who have had the experience of working with him. What would a Trump Presidency be like?” Available at Prime Video and includes pre-view trailer.
2016 / PBS / Frontline
The Choice: 2016
The Choice 2016 – the PBS bio-documentary on the that year’s presidential candidates: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Click for Amazon.
An overview of the nearly 2 hour Frontline film at IMDB.com offers the following:
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are two of the most polarizing presidential candidates in modern history. Frontline’s acclaimed election-year series, “The Choice,” returns – going behind the headlines to investigate what has shaped these two candidates, where they came from, how they lead and why they want one of the most difficult jobs imaginable. From veteran Frontline filmmaker Michael Kirk, “The Choice 2016” will investigate formative moments in Clinton and Trump’s lives through interviews with those who know them best, providing in-depth, trustworthy reporting and powerful new insights at a moment when voters are being bombarded with conflicting partisan stories about each candidate.
At the New York Times, reporter James Poniewozik, reviewing the film at its release on Sept. 25, 2016, offered the following on the film’s treatment of each candidate:
The picture “The Choice” draws of Mrs. Clinton is of someone whose faults are within the familiar universe of politicians’ failings: caution, secrecy, suspicion, overcompromising. We see her evolve from the idealistic Wellesley student to a secretary of state who — learning of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s death while preparing for a TV interview — says with a laugh, “We came, we saw, he died!”
Its sketch of Mr. Trump is of a different order. It presents him as petty, vain, self-dealing, image-obsessed, a master manipulator, uninterested in growing as a person, driven only to serve his greater glory. The narrative is sober, straightforward and presented without editorializing. But it is quietly, firmly damning.
Candidates Trump & Clinton during 2016 presidential debates. Click for her 2018 book, “What Happened,” Simon & Schuster.
The two-hour film draws on dozens of interviews from those who know the candidates – friends and family, advisors and adversaries, as well as authors, journalists, and political insiders.
In the 2016 election a few weeks later, the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence, defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state and First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton and the junior senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, in what was considered one of the biggest political upsets in American history.
January 24, 2017 / PBS
Trump’s Road to the White House
January 2017. PBS Frontline film, “Trump’s Road To the White House.” Click for film at Amazon.
One review of this PBS film from the Hollywood Reporter’s story by Frank Scheck used A and B headlines as follows: “‘Frontline: Trump’s Road to the White House’ Plays Like a Horror Film – ‘Frontline: Trump’s Road to the White House’ Is a Stomach-Churningly Scary Look Back on the President’s Unlikely Rise to Power.”
Through interviews with key players, the PBS film details how Trump won the election. “The Frontline Interviews” – a separate offering at their website – provides additional background on this documentary.
Explains Frontline: “…When Donald Trump launched his bid for the presidency in June 2015, few observers gave the businessman turned reality TV star a chance. But over the next year-and-a-half, Trump would defy expectations and shatter political norms en route to becoming the nation’s 45th president…. Trump’s Road to the White House traces key moments from the campaign, as told by insiders who were there at the center of it all.”
The Frontline interviews include the following: David Bossie (Trump campaign adviser); Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y); Kellyanne Conway (White House counselor); Tony Fabrizio (Trump campaign pollster); Jack Kingston (Trump campaign); Corey Lewandowski (former Trump campaign manager); Frank Luntz (Republican pollster); Robby Mook (Clinton campaign manager); Jennifer Palmieri (Clinton campaign communications director); John Podesta (Clinton campaign chairman); Sean Spicer (White House press secretary): Roger Stone (Trump political adviser); and Katy Tur (NBC News).
2017 documentary:”Trumped: Inside The Greatest Political Upset of All Time.” Click for film at Amazon.
Trumped
On February 3, 2017, Showtime aired a two-hour documentary titled Trumped with the subtitle, Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time, referring, of course, to Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election.
The film was created from footage that was shot for the weekly Showtime TV series, “The Circus,” a politics show starring journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, plus political advisor Mark McKinnon. The three also appear in the film, adding intermittent comment and analysis as they go.
The film and the threesome’s journey chronicles Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, from the time it was announced in June 2015, the primaries, debates, and up to an including the time of Trump’s victory on election night, November 2016. In addition to their own commentary, there are also interviews with various Trump advisors such as Roger Stone, Kellyanne Conway, and others. The film, however, received mostly negative reviews, being criticized mainly for being something of a rushed production, and not going into enough detail on how Trump won the election. Critics also believed that the film was released too soon after the election, with comments like “hastily thrown-together” appearing in one reviews. But Travis Johnson of Australia’s Filmink wrote “Trumped really just tells us things we already know…But there is a kind of car-crash fascination in watching the events unfold now with the benefit of foreknowledge.” It also captured the crushing defeat of supporters and campaign workers at Clinton headquarters on election night, and the somewhat “deer-in-the-headlights” moment of Trump himself discovering he had won the election.
2017 / Documentary / Cinema Libre
Trumping Democracy | Big Data
This 2017 documentary, “Trumping Democracy: Big Data,” is available as DVD or streaming, with trailer. Click for Amazon.
In 2017, Cinema Libre Studio, based in Burbank, CA, released Trumping Democracy. a documentary film about the powers behind the manipulation of election information and voter data in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. One subtitle appearing on some editions reads: Real Money. Fake News. Your Data. The film is described at its Amazon page as follows:
“Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States by winning three key states, a victory engineered by an ultra-conservative faction that quietly mapped its way to power using fake news, lies, social media and psychometrics. This explosive documentary follows the money to the reclusive multi-billionaire Robert Mercer, who bought Breitbart News and funded the effort while inserting Steve Bannon into the presidential campaign as its manager.”
“Using data of millions of Americans acquired from Facebook, Google, banks, credit companies, social security and more, another Mercer company, Cambridge Analytica, used tactics honed during the UK’s Brexit campaign to identify voters deemed most neurotic or worried, whom they believed could swing for Trump.”
“In the days before the election, using a little-known Facebook feature, dark posts, they deployed highly manipulative and personalized messages that could be seen only by the user before disappearing. In the darkness of the web, democracy was trumped by data.”
A longer review at Video Librarian offers a bit more detail, as follows:
“Filmmaker Thomas Huchon’s documentary on the 2016 presidential election—originally broadcast in France under the title Unfair Game — … concentrates on the methods used by reclusive American billionaire Robert Mercer, both to influence the outcome and to place his own people in the Trump inner circle.Voters could be targeted for last-minute disinformation ads in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. After interviews with Paul Horner, who produced admittedly phony stories for the Internet, and Scott LoBaido, a Trump supporter who feasted on such fake news, the film pivots to Mercer’s expenditures benefitting conservative outlets like the Heritage Foundation and Breitbart as well as presidential candidate Ted Cruz. After Cruz faltered, Mercer switched his support to Trump and inserted Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, and David Bossie into the campaign. Even more important, he was behind the campaign’s employment of an English firm, Strategic Communications Laboratories, and its American offshoot Cambridge Analytica, which developed incredibly detailed personality profiles of voters who could be targeted for last-minute disinformation ads in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, where modest changes in the vote totals could tip the electoral college in Trump’s favor.”
Netflix released “The Great Hack” film in July 2019. This film available at Netflix.
“Huchon argues that the plan worked, and thus it was Mercer’s manipulation, rather than Putin’s machinations, that determined the outcome. Trumping Democracy‘s conspiratorial tone is somewhat of a mirror image of the technique Huchon deplores on the other side, but its tabloid approach — complete with striking graphics—makes for a provocative, if debatable, cinematic harangue….”. (F. Swietek)
Related to this film is another, The Great Hack, a two-hour 15-minute documentary released by Netflix two years later, in July 2019. Part of the review for this film at Robert Ebert.com explains:
…“The Great Hack” concerns itself with the United States Presidential election of 2016 and, to a lesser extent, the Brexit vote and other international political campaigns….”
…“This is sure to be a controversial documentary, not just because it sees Brexit and the GOP Presidential campaign involvement with Cambridge Analytica as a sinister, almost military-grade level of psychological warfare against an unsuspecting public, but because it also highlights how large groups of people can easily be led to vote against their own interests….”
“Active Measures” documentary of 2018 on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Click for film at Amazon.
Active Measures
Another film about disinformation in the 2016 election is Active Measures.
According to the studio summary, this film “chronicles the most successful espionage operation in Russian history, the American presidential election of 2016. Filmmaker Jack Bryan exposes a 30-year history of covert political warfare devised by Vladmir Putin to disrupt, and ultimately control world events. In the process, the filmmakers follow a trail of money, real estate, mob connections, and on the record confessions to expose an insidious plot that leads directly back to The White House. With democracy hanging in the balance, Active Measures is essential viewing. Unraveling the true depth and scope of ‘the Russia story’ as we have come to know it, this film is a jarring reminder that some conspiracies hide in plain sight.”
Poster for “Active Measures” documentary
Additional topics covered in the film include the life of Vladimir Putin, social media manipulation broadly, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter calls this film “well researched and truly frightening … One of the doc’s strengths is the amazing number of ‘gets’ (onscreen interview subjects)…”
Among those interviewed, for example, were high-ranking members of the American intelligence community, including Sen. John McCain, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, and others.
Owen Gleiberman, chief film critic for Variety writes “…Active Measures names the names and fills in the flowchart of Trump’s corruption with gripping authority”.[35]
The Los Angeles Times has called the film, “A crash course in accepting that the 2016’s election results were the greatest espionage operation in world history.”
Feb 2017 / Frontline / PBS
Betting on Trump
On February 15, 2017, following Trump’s election, PBS’s Frontline broadcast an “economics special” under the rubric, Betting on Trump, consisting of three film shorts centered on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign promises in three areas – water, coal, and jobs.
 2017. “Betting on Trump: Water” - Central Valley, CA. |
 2017. “Betting on Trump: Coal”- Williamson, WV. |
 2017: “Betting on Trump: Jobs” - Erie, Pennsylvania. |
Each of the short films is about 11 minutes in length and were produced in cooperation with Marketplace and PBS NewsHour. PBS also included related articles on each of the film short subjects at its website. Click on photos for videos and article in each case.
Betting on Trump: Water. What do Trump’s economic promises to the farming industry mean to voters in California’s Central Valley? One in five jobs in the region are connected to agriculture, while water has been in short supply — and most counties voted red in this otherwise blue state. One farmer says, “I think everybody, including myself, was shocked that he was elected, but I voted for Donald Trump because he does give us a better chance of getting things back on track.”
Betting on Trump: Coal. What do Trump’s economic promises to the coal industry mean to voters in West Virginia? Twelve thousand mining jobs have disappeared in the state over the last few years — and 70 percent of the vote went to Trump. One former coal miner says, “I’ve been a registered Democrat all my life, but I crossed over this year. I voted for Donald Trump, because he promised to help the coal miner.”
Betting on Trump: Jobs. What do Trump’s economic promises to the manufacturing industry mean to voters in Erie, Pennsylvania? Manufacturing jobs in Erie have been declining since the ‘70s, and the county bet on Donald Trump to revive them — after voting for Obama twice. One small business owner says, “We’ve never seen anything like him before and I think that scares people, but I think the people who voted for him, they are hopeful.”
2017, “President Trump,” PBS / Frontline. Click for DVD.
President Trump
In May 2017, PBS’s Frontline also aired President Trump, a one-hour investigative biography by filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team that explores the key moments that shaped Donald Trump – from his childhood, to his tumultuous career in the public eye.
This Frontline production draws on some material from its earlier film, The Choice 2016 and seeks to show how Trump transformed himself from real estate developer to entertainer to president.
According to PBS, “It features dozens of in-depth interviews from advisors, business associates, and biographers, and paints a revealing portrait of where Trump came from, how he leads, and why he sought out one of the most difficult jobs imaginable.”
Among those interviewed in this film are, for example, Trump book authors Michael D’Antonio, who wrote, Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success (2015), and Tony Schwartz, co author of the Trump best-seller, The Art Of The Deal (1987).
May 2017 / Frontline / PBS
Bannon’s War
2017 film from PBS / Frontline, “ Bannon’s War.” Click for Amazon.
According to Wikipedia, Bannon “is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House’s chief strategist for the first seven months of U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration, before Trump discharged him. He is a former executive chairman of Breitbart News and previously served on the board of the now-defunct data-analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.” See Wikipedia for further career details.
According to PBS, this Frontline film includes a look at Bannon’s confrontational style; his personal crusade to transform America; and his wars with radical Islam, traditional Washington politics, and rivals inside the White House.
Among other initiatives, Bannon had engineered a sweeping executive order aimed at fulfilling a Trump campaign promise to restrict Muslims from entering the United States.
As of mid-October 2024, Steve Bannon was nearing the end of a prison sentence for refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena regarding the January 6, 2021 investigation.
Among other films on Bannon are the following: American Dharma, an 1.5 hour 2019 film by director Errol Morris engaging with Bannon; a July 2022 hour-long CNN production titled, Steve Bannon: Divided We Fall, described as “exploring former White House strategist Steve Bannon’s urge to tear down American institutions and replace the government at all levels;” and, a 2023 hour-long film titled, Steve Bannon: The Trump Takeover.
Oct 2017 / Frontline / PBS
2017. “War on the EPA,” about Trump-era dismantling of environmental regulations. Click for Amazon.
This one-hour 2017 documentary that tells the tale of how President Donald Trump’s Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, an Oklahoma senator and Attorney General, went about undoing former President Barack Obama’s initiatives on climate change (and more), is an excellent case study on environmental politics.
For one, it provides the needed historical context to understand the work Obama and EPA did – not only domestically, but also inter-nationally – to try and begin to regulate fossil fuel emissions at the center of climate change.
Initially, Obama was stymied by a Republican Congress in his first term. But in his second term he used his executive power to instruct EPA to devise a plan to regulate fossil fuel emissions – the Clean Power Plan, first proposed in 2014 — a plan which provided a generous 2030 compliance timeline and public health benefits such as thousands fewer asthma attacks and premature deaths per year.
The film shows how the coal, oil and natural gas industry, revved up in part by the Tea Party movement, and backed by corporate conservative think tanks, billionaire and corporate funding, a Republican Congress, legal maneuvering by Scott Pruitt-led state attorneys general, and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign – all converged on the Obama Administration’s climate change efforts. During his campaign, meanwhile, Trump had called Obama’s climate-related policies a “war on coal,” among other things, which played well in coal communities and working class America. Trump pledged to undo Obama- era environmental regulations, including those aimed at climate and fossil fuels.
President Trump, with Scott Pruitt at left and a contingent of coal miners present, signs an executive order on March 28, 2017 to begin the process of overturning former president Barack Obama's and EPA’s Clean Power Plan to reduce climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.
In carrying out that pledge, Trump found the perfect ally in Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who Trump picked to head up the EPA. The film is partly a biographical sketch of the rise of Pruitt as a legal champion for oil interests in his home state and the broader national fossil fuels industry. The film details all the funding, legal, and political maneuvering that went into their successful bid to undo the Obama-era climate change initiatives – including the Trump Administration’s August 2017 U.S. notice of withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords – a U.S. and Obama-supported international treaty for global controls.
All in all, the PBS Frontline’s film, War On The EPA, is an excellent historic resource, which shows how corporate funding, legal maneuvering and raw political power were used over a period of some years to alter and set back key environmental regulation that also offered important public health and economic benefits.
Nov 2017- Mar 2018 / Netfilx
Trump: An American Dream
Trump: An American Dream is a four-part British television documentary series, exploring the journey of Donald Trump through five decades, leading up to his presidential run. It was first released for Channel 4 UK television in November 2017, followed by a global release on Netflix in March 2018.
Image & description for 2018 Netflix film, “Trump: An American Dream” – Says Netflix: “Friends, associates and critics reveal the truly American story of Donald Trump, the brash businessman who defied the odds to become U.S. president”.
The documentary features original footage and interviews with early employees of The Trump Organization, addresses the business and personal relationship Trump had with his first wife, Ivana Trump, and covers his alliances Roger Stone and Roy Cohn. The film was originally aired n four parts as follows: 1) Manhattan. In the 1970s, Donald emerges from his father’s shadow and negotiates a huge real estate deal, then sets his sights on building his namesake tower. 2) The Gambler. Donald’s decadence ramps up in the ’80s as he gets into the casino business and expands his brand. But his personal life begins to unravel. 3) Citizen Trump. Trump teeters on the brink of financial ruin as his divorce and affair make headlines, but he looks to the stock market to fuel his comeback. 4) Politics. In the 21st century, Trump’s star rises again in reality television before he turns his attention toward the ultimate seat of power: the White House.
PBS/Frontline 2018 documentary, “Trump's Takeover,” reporting on President Trump's battle for control of the GOP in his first year as President. Click for Amazon.
Trump’s Takeover
The PBS Frontline 2018 documentary film, Trump’s Takeover, reports on President Trump’s battle for control of the GOP in his first year as President.
According to the PBS synopsis and summary: “Frontline went inside former President Trump’s high-stakes battle for control of the GOP, examining how he attacked fellow Republicans and used inflammatory rhetoric that rallied his base and further divided the country in his first year as president.”
“Through interviews with longtime Republican legislators like former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), House Freedom Caucus members including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), former senior White House officials including Kellyanne Conway (counselor to the President) and Sean Spicer (press secretary) and other D.C. insiders, Trump’s Takeover examines how, years before the January 6th, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack, the president was remaking the GOP in his own image, counter-punching when criticized and publicly attacking those who defied him.”
Among others interviewed by PBS for this film were: Dave Brat (R-VA), Eric Cantor (Fmr. House Majority Leader); Tom Cole (R-OK); Susan Davis (Congressional Corres-pondent, NPR); Charlie Dent (R-PA); Lisa Desjardins (PBS NewsHour); Josh Holmes (Fmr. Mitch McConnell Chief of Staff); Steven Law (CEO, American Crossroads);Corey Lewandowski (Fmr Trump Campaign Manager); Frank Luntz (Republican pollster); Mark Meadows (RNC., Freedom Caucus); Ed O’Keefe (Washington Post); and Charlie Sykes (author, How the Right Lost its Mind ).
October 2018 / Showtime
The Family Business: Trump and Taxes
The 24 minute documentary on the Trump family business and how Donald Trump became rich, is well worth a visit, (along with the NYT print story) and can be found online.
The short 24-minute film tracks 18 months in the reporters’ lives as they do the arduous and tedious work of chasing down the story, unraveling a complicated Trump family financial labyrinth and deceitful income maneuverings in the process – what was found to be, in the words of Susanne Craig, one of the reporters, “systematic fraud over decades.”
The film also upends the myth of Trump’s being a “self-made billionaire” – his often-told tale that he parlayed a $1 million loan from his father into his billions-plus real estate empire. Well, it turned out, Trump had a received a lot more help – and a lot more family money – than was widely known. As the investigative team would discover and later report in their detailed special investigative 13,000-word New York Times print story of October 2, 2018, Donald Trump had actually received more than $400 million (in 2018 dollars) from his father, most of it in ways that avoided paying gift or inheritance tax. Their reporting also revealed the following:
…By age 3, Mr. Trump was earning $200,000 a year in today’s dollars from his father’s empire. He was a millionaire by age 8. By the time he was 17, his father had given him part ownership of a 52-unit apartment building. Soon after Mr. Trump graduated from college, he was receiving the equivalent of $1 million a year from his father. The money increased with the years, to more than $5 million annually in his 40s and 50s…
Susanne Craig also published her first book, “Lucky Loser” (2024), with colleague Russ Buettner on Donald Trump's financial & business practices. Click for book at Amazon.
According to film director, Jenny Carchman: “We followed a singular story, outside of the daily news cycle that illustrates so much of the investigative reporting process – the patience, the perseverance, and the drive to understand a story without knowing where it would lead… We witness these journalists talk to people, review thousands of documents and spend months of exhaustive fact-checking, and see how vital the press’ role is in uncovering the truth.”
The research amassed by the Times reporters on this story entailed tens of thousands of pages of financial documents, including more than 200 Trump family tax returns. For their work, the reporting team of Susanne Craig, David Barstow & Russell Buettner shared the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.
In early October 2018, PBS Frontline offered a two-hour film titled, “Trump’s Showdown,” Click for Amazon.
Trump’s Showdown
In early October 2018, PBS aired a two-hour Frontline documentary titled Trump’s Showdown, referring here to Trump’s fight against the ongoing investigation then underway by special counsel Robert Mueller into various possible 2016 election improprieties extending into Trump’s first two years as President, and whether he obstructed justice.
At Salon.com, senior critic, Melanie McFarland described the film as “a multiple- pronged study of the president’s concerted effort to discredit national intelligence agencies and the Fourth Estate.”
The film also takes some time delving into older history – in this case, on the methods of Trump Svengali, Roy Cohn, and his role in the McCarthy communist witch hunts of the 1950s. The film notes Trump’s fondness for Cohn’s “always attack” playbook, pointing out that during his business career, Trump was involved in no less than 4,000 lawsuits. But the film also gives a good overview of the whirlwind of developments then occurring around President Trump and his minions, as Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter offered in his review:
…[T]the documentary delivers a concise and yet exhaustive account of a real-life political drama that includes one unprecedented incident after the other: Michael Flynn caught lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials and then having to resign; Trump’s desperate efforts to enlist “loyalty” from Comey, who took copious notes after every sordid encounter; Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself, which has bedeviled Trump ever since; Trump deciding to fire Comey and then essentially implicating himself in what may well have been obstruction of justice; Trump’s celebratory meeting afterward in the Oval Office with Russian officials, which only Russian journalists were allowed to cover; the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has hounded Trump like Inspector Javert pursuing Jean Valjean. The story goes on and on, culminating in the Helsinki Summit press conference, in which Trump sided with Russia over his own intelligence agencies…
A long list of interviews comprise the backbone of the film – some 60 in fact – with former heads of U.S. intelligence agencies, members and former members of Trump’s inner circle, reporters, authors, and lawyers. And Frontline provides all of those interviews in full at its website.
Roy Cohn Films
To understand Donald Trump, it is important to know that a key part of his acquired modus operandi came via the tutelage of Roy Cohn.
Roy Cohn (b. 1927 – d. 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence as Sen. Joe McCarthy’s chief counsel in 1954, during McCarthy’s investigations of suspected communists. Later, in New York, Cohn became a famous political fixer, mafioso defender, and notably, in the 1970s and 1980s, advisor, mentor, and personal attorney to Donald Trump. Cohn was noted for his hard-ball tactics, once described by writer Ken Auletta as “a legal executioner—the toughest, meanest, loyalest, vilest, and one of the most brilliant lawyers in America.”
Two recent films on Cohn include Where’s My Roy Cohn? of 2019, and Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn of 2020. The first is an American documentary directed by Matt Tyrnauer. As Wikipedia notes, the film stars Roy Cohn as himself, alongside Ken Auletta, Anne Roiphe, Roger Stone, Donald Trump, and Barbara Walters.
The title of this film is reported to be a quote from President Trump as he discussed Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s recusal from the Mueller Investigation.” Amazon’s Prime Video page notes of the film, “this thriller-like exposé reveals how Roy Cohn, a deeply troubled master manipulator, shaped the current American nightmare.” Brian Lowry of CNN in his review wrote, Where’s My Roy Cohn? is by no means a flattering portrait; rather, the film portrays Cohn as being emblematic of everything that’s wrong with politics, class disparity and the current toxic political environment.”
HBO/Max2020 film, “Bully Coward Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn. Click for Amazon.
Bully Coward Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn, aired on Max in 2020. This film also explores Roy Cohn’s rise to power and how his influence survives to this day. Bully Coward Victim is directed by Ivy Meeropol, a documentary filmmaker who is the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Cohn played a prominent role in the 1951 espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Cohn’s direct examination of Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, produced testimony that was central to the Rosenbergs’ conviction and subsequent execution.
Meeropol, director of the film, has also stated: “Cohn really paved the way for Trump and set him up with the right people, introduced him to Paul Manafort and Roger Stone—the people who helped him get to the White House.”
Roy Cohn is also played by Al Pacino in the 2003 HBO miniseries, Angels in America, and by James Woods in Citizen Cohn, a two-hour film aired by HBO in 2012.
“The Trump Dynasty” three--part film series, originally broadcast in Feb 2019. Click for film at Amazon.
Feb 2019 – A&E / Biography
The Trump Dynasty
In February 2019, the Biography channel (A&E), aired a three-part documentary series on Donald Trump, then in his first term as President. Titled “The Trump Dynasty,” the three roughly 90-minute segments were broadcast on separate nights, as follows:
1.) New Frontiers. Starting with the Yukon Gold Rush of 1880, three generations of the Trump family confront new frontiers and build the foundation for Donald Trump’s fame and fortune.
2.) High Roller. When Donald Trump sets out to become the world’s most famous developer, it pushes his family business and personal relationships to the brink.
3.) The Trump Show. An orchestrated comeback launches Donald Trump’s rise as TV celebrity, international brander, and political firebrand.
March 2019 / Frontline / PBS Newshour
The Mueller Investigation
March 2019. “The Muller Investigation,” PBS / Frontline documentary. Click for Amazon.
A Frontline and PBS NewsHour special, The Mueller Investigation, was first aired in March 2019. The hour-long documentary traces how President Trump set himself on a collision course with the country’s top law enforcement officials. Drawing on in-depth interviews with senior law enforcement officials, Trump insiders, attorneys, authors and journalists, the film offers an inside look into the investigation that Trump continually called a witch hunt. The PBS documentary aired following the submission of the final Mueller report to then Attorney General, William Barr.
The Mueller investigation, as summarized by Wikipedia:
….[F]ound no evidence that President Trump or any of his aides coordinated with the Russian government’s 2016 election interference. Though there was insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy, members of the campaign were indicted, including national security advisor Michael Flynn and the chair of the Trump presidential campaign, Paul Manafort. The investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial. The report did not reach a conclusion about possible obstruction of justice by Trump, citing a Justice Department guideline that prohibits the federal indictment of a sitting president. However, Attorney General William Barr pointed to ten episodes of potential obstruction.
May 14th, 2019 / CNN Special Report
The Trump Family Business
In mid-May 2019, CNN aired a special one-hour documentary with CNN’s Erin Burnett on the Trump family business. President Trump at the time was battling to keep his taxes and other financial documents away from the public eye. CNN set out to investigate Trump’s role with his businesses and how, as President of the United States, he continued to be involved with them.
In May 2019, CNN anchor Erin Burnett, hosted a one hour special report, “The Trump Family Business.”.
In this one-hour CNN special, Burnett explores the many types of businesses the Trump Organization engages in and how the President’s continuing connections to his family empire raise many questions about his separate roles as President and owner of a number of operating companies.
In its summary of the report, CNN explained, “Burnett speaks to people who have faced financial losses — from investors in Trump properties, to those who lost money after enrolling in Trump University. In addition, Burnett interviews DC Attorney General Karl Racine who is suing the President, because he believes President Trump is violating the constitution by continuing to take money from foreign governments at his hotels. Burnett also speaks with journalists from the Washington Post, WNYC and ProPublica about their discoveries of how the President still makes money today and how his businesses operate.”
May & Sept 2019 / Frontline / NPR
Trump’s Trade War
2019 PBS Frontline/NPR special, “Trump’s Trade War.” Click for Amazon.
Trump had thought – and promised during his 2016 campaign – that he could provoke a level playing field with aggressive tactics, so he enforced a series of highly restrictive tariffs on many of China’s key imported goods. Then China retaliated with tariffs of their own. Trump’s supporters were initially optimistic on the President’s move, but soon the burdens of Trump’s tariffs on industries like steel, manufacturing, agriculture, and technology began to be felt, as costs rose and supplies dwindled, later reaching everyday consumers.
The Frontline/NPR special reports on the inside story of President Trump’s confrontation with China over trade policy and what led the world’s two largest economies to the brink – and the billions at stake. One review at Top Documentary Films explains:
…The filmmakers attempt to piece together the potential endgame as they travel to various factories, and consult figures on the inside of this debate, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former economic advisor Gary Cohn. Viewers receive a well-informed and rounded portrait of the merits and pitfalls of constrictive tariffs, and how they could conspire to impact the lives of citizens in both countries. … Trump’s Trade War looks beyond the empty rhetoric to find the real human costs of this standoff.
August 2019 / CNN Special Report
A Toxic Tale: Trump’s Environmental Impact
August 2019. CNN special report, “A Toxic Tale: Trump’s Environmental Impact.”
Dr. Gupta sits down with a family who believes that the Trump-era EPA’s inaction is responsible for their son’s death. Several former EPA administrators and senior staff, who served both Republican and Democratic presidents, also weigh in on what is really happening at this important government agency that not only protects the environment, but also public health. Dr. Gupta examines weakened rules on everything from air and water quality, to pesticides, to fuel economy for cars, to combating the climate crisis and dangerous chemicals.
January 2020 / PBS / Frontline
America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump
In January 2020 – in advance of the debate ahead for that election year – PBS offered a two-night, four-hour Frontline special that sought to examine “the growth of a toxic political environment that has paralyzed Washington and dramatically deepened the gulf between Americans.”
January 2020: PBS/FRontline four-hour special, “America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump.” Click for Amazon.
Part 1 traced how Barack Obama’s promise of national unity collapsed as increasing cultural and political divisions laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump. Part 2 examined how the country’s political divisions led to Trump’s successful presidential campaign – how his campaign exploited those divisions, how his presidency unleashed anger on both sides of the divide, and what America’s polarization could mean for the country’s future. Brian Lowery of CNN praised America’s Great Divide for “admirably” charting in detail the deepening division within the U.S., adding: “The sobering takeaway … is whether the nastiness that defines current political discourse is irrevocable.”
May 2020 / Wolf Rock Pictures
The Trump I Know
October 2020, ‘The Trump I Know” film. Click for film at Amazon.
Trump at the time, in his re-election bid, was lagging Democrat Joe Biden among women in national polls. During one segment of the Republican National Convention that year, women in key positions, such as Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor, and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, were spotlighted and spoke of the way that Trump had put women in key positions during his career. This film would do that as well, with some of the same people. The film then received digital distribution in early October 2020 in advance of the presidential election.
Ted Johnson, political editor at Dead-line.com, noted in his review: “The Trump I Know is different from many of the documentaries and shorts flooding the marketplace before the 2020 presidential election: It’s a positive portrait of the president.”
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Paula White-Cain, Donald Trump, Jr., and Eric Trump also appear in the film. Matthew Thayer is this film’s director and Wolf Rock Pictures, its studio.
July 28, 2020 / PBS / Frontline
United States of Conspiracy
In late July 2020, PBS / Frontline released the documentary, United States of Conspiracy, described as: “How trafficking in conspiracy theories went from the fringes of U.S. politics into the White House.”
Screen shot from PBS/Frontline’s YouTube.com page for the 2020 documentary film, “United States of Conspiracy.” Click for film at Amazon.
The film explores how conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones, Trump confidant and poltical operative, Roger Stone, and President Donald Trump, have propelled fringe conspiracy theories and misinformation into the mainstream American political dialogue. Wikipedia‘s page describing the career and activities of Alex Jones, for example, notes the following:
…Jones… is an American far-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts The Alex Jones Show from Austin, Texas, which is the longest-running online news and politics talk show, and was previously broadcast by the Genesis Communications Network across the United States via syndicated and internet radio. Jones’s website, InfoWars, promotes conspiracy theories and fake news, as do his other websites, NewsWars and PrisonPlanet.
Among many other conspiracy theories, Jones has alleged that the United States government either concealed information about or outright falsified the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, and the 1969 Moon landing.
Alex Jones, with bullhorn, featured in Frontline film.
….A staunch supporter of Trump’s re-election, Jones also supported the false claims of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election. On January 6, 2021, Jones was a speaker at the rally in Lafayette Square Park supporting Trump preceding the latter’s supporters’ attack on the US Capitol.
In October 2022, for Jones’s defamatory falsehoods about the Sandy Hook shooting, juries in Connecticut and Texas awarded a total of $1.487 billion in damages from Jones to a first responder and families of victims; the plaintiffs alleged that Jones’s lies led to them being threatened and harassed for years….
The Frontline film examines the alliance of Jones, Roger Stone and Trump in the political battle over misinformation and more. A 2021 Frontline update of this film at YouTube offers this summary of the film and that political period:
“…As the coronavirus pandemic continues, America reckons with racism and the 2020 election looms, United States of Conspiracy investigates how Jones and InfoWars, Stone, and Trump helped to lay the foundation for conspiracy theories to take center stage in America’s national conversation, how the idea of truth itself became part of America’s divide, and what it means for the future of our democracy.”
August 2020 / Documentary / Dark Star Pictures
#UNFIT: The Psychology of Donald Trump
Advertising poster for “#UNFIT: The Psychology of Donald Trump.” Click for film at Amazon.
Through the words of leading mental health professionals, this film explores mental health and brain-related conditions and disorders and their dangers — and also what is called the doctors’ “Duty to Warn.” The film introduces the syndrome known as malignant narcissism and explains how it is responsible for great inhumanity throughout history. And the professionals interviewed liken its symptoms to Trump’s behavior.
The experts in this film also discuss Trump’s paranoia, his preoccupation with conspiracy theories, his penchant for finding enemies in all disagreements, his anti-social behavior, and his absence of empathy and contrition.
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times, in his review of the film, notes: “The illuminating film, more personal than political, argues that psychiatrists have a duty to speak out on the president’s more disturbing behavior…”And Melanie McFarland’s review for Salon.com, notes, in part: “…#UNFIT successfully makes its case concerning why Trump’s psychological instability should be of concern to the public.” But Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter adds: “Despite its powerfully cogent and well-informed arguments, #Unfit… is sadly unlikely to change the minds of the roughly 35-40% of the population who look at the president’s behavior and apparently see nothing to be concerned about.”
Among those interviewed and/or appearing in the film are: Malcolm Nancy, George Conway, John Gartner, Lance Dodes, Justin Frank, Ramani Durvasula, Anthony Scaramucci, Suzanne Lachmann, Rick Reilly, Bill Kristol, Richard Painter, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Cheryl Koos, Sheldon Solomon. A second film from the makers of #UNFIT explores the psychology underlying the dangerous cult of Trumpism and its “alternative realities, ” #UNTRUTH: The Psychology of Trumpism.
September 2020 / PBS / Frontline
The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden
September 2020. PBS / Frontline film, “The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden”. Click for Amazon.
In this two-hour TV special, the PBS Frontline team use interwoven investigative biographies of both men to answer questions of competence, character, leadership and vision. The film tells the story of the two candidates through interviews with those who know them best — examining the defining moments that shaped their lives, their approaches to power, and their visions for America. To produce The Choice 2020, Frontline conducted 47 interviews totaling more than 100 hours with some of the people closest to Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Friends, family, colleagues and adversaries of each candidate are asked about the challenges that affected Trump and Biden’s lives, and how their experiences qualifies them to face up to national and international crises.
The Choice 2020 was the ninth installment of the PBS/Frontline series on U.S. presidential candidates begun in 1988. It its review of the film, The Daily Beast wrote, “Beyond spin…thoughtful [and] in-depth.”
Biden would ultimately be elected President that November 2020, setting a record for the most votes ever received by a presidential candidate. He also became the first man to defeat an incumbent president in 28 years and received the highest percentage of the popular vote over an incumbent president since Franklin Roosevelt in 1932.
Multiple Documentary Films
Post-January 6th Films
In early January 2021, following the 2020 presidential election which Joe Biden won, the normal government process of certifying the results of the election in advance of inauguration was then in motion. This pro-forma and peaceful process in the transfer of the power was proceeding as expected on January 6th that year, as Congress would then verify and officially record the certified votes from each state for President and Vice President. But on this day, January 6, 2022, an angry Trump-incited mob stormed the U.S. Capitol disrupting the proceeding, damaging the capital, and injuring dozens of law enforcement (hereafter, “J-6” riot). The certification process, however, would resume some hours later that night following the unprecedented rioting, completing the certification. But for months, and now years later, various media accounts of that day, including a number of documentary films, would seek to offer recountings, explanations, and chronologies of the riot, investigating the root causes, politics, participants, prosecutions, and more. Some of these films are noted below.
 Jan 26, 2021. PBS / Frontline film, “Trump’s American Carnage.” Click for film at Amazon. |
 April 13, 2021. PBS /Frontline / ProPublica film, “American Insurrection.” Click for Amazon. |
Two PBS films on the “J-6” riots ware among the first to appear – Trump’s American Carnage on January 26, 2021 – followed by American Insurrection on April 13, 2021. The first, tells the story of how Donald Trump’s presidency laid the groundwork for bitter division, violence and insurrection – and why many lawmakers went along with him in what one conservative commentator in the film calls a “Faustian bargain.” This film also examines how Donald Trump aggravated political divisions and stoked violence throughout his presidency, as well as how his party’s leaders failed to heed the warning signs. The second film, American Insurrection, also coming in the wake of the J-6 Capitol storming, is an investigation into how far-right extremist groups have evolved after the deadly Unite the Right rally – and the threat they pose. Frontline and ProPublica investigate the rising threat of far-right violence in America, exposing the individuals and ideologies behind a wave of crimes, culminating in the attack on the Capitol.
 August 18, 2021. CNN’s “Assault on Democracy: The Roots of Trump’s Insurrection.” Click for film at Amazon. |
 October 10, 2021. HBO/Max film, “Four Hours at the Capitol.” Click for Amazon. |
Two other films arriving on the heels of the J-6 attack, include: Assault On Democracy: Roots Of Trump’s Insurrection, an August 18, 2021 CNN film, and Four Hours at the Capitol, an HBO original documentary produced in association with the BBC, released on October 20, 2021. In the first, CNN’s Drew Griffin examines the events of January 6th, 2020 and talks with those who stormed the Capitol, relatives of those who were arrested, and died, congressional staffers, police officers, and others. How did this happen? How did millions of Americans come to believe a network of lies so deep, that thousands of those believers would turn into a mob trying to overturn a presidential election, threatening American democracy? Griffin takes a look back to see how the events unfolded and reveals the insurrectionists’ motivations and beliefs.
Another J-6 related film – HBO’s Four Hours at the Capitol, as summarized at IMDB: “An immersive look at the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol.. Footage from the day, along with interviews from Congress members, law enforcement officers, reporters, Trump supporters, etc., create an all around picture of the tragic events.” One user review at IMDB also notes: “If you were not at the Capitol on January 6th, this documentary will make you feel like you were. Presented chronologically on that day, it’s honest, real, and gripping. Recommend for anyone interested in seeing and hearing the experiences of many points of view, and the real life consequences.”
 2022 film: “Capitol Riot, Minute by Minute.” Click for Amazon. |
 Sept 2022: PBS / “Lies, Politics & Democracy.” Click for Amazon. |
 Jan 5, 2023. “January 6th” film, Discovery+. Click for Amazon. |
Among other J-6 related films and follow-ups are these: Plot to Overturn the Election (PBS, 54 mn, March 29, 2022); Capitol Riot: Minute by Minute (Always on Entertainment, 1 hr, 2022 ); Lies, Politics and Democracy (PBS/ Frontline, 1 hr, Sept 6, 2022); and, January 6th (a film by Gédéon & Jules Naudet; 2 hr 30 mn, Discovery+, January 2023). And beyond these, there are any number of others that can be found with a general online search.
January 30, 2024 / PBS / Frontline
“Democracy on Trial,” a 2.5-hour film tracing the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. Click for Amazon.
In January 2024, as the nation was involved in the early months of the 2024 Presidential election campaign, with Donald Trump the presumed Republican front-runner (though Nikki Haley was still in the race), PBS / Frontline aired a 2.5 hour documentary, Democracy on Trial, focused on the Trump-induced upheavals and alleged crimes of the 2020 election.
This film explores both the events that culminated in the January 6th assault – including bodycam footage from officers defending the Capitol – and the criminal cases against former President Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss and the attempted insurrection.
The film reviews the proceedings of the bipartisan House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol and includes interviews with members of the J-6 committee, as well as those with journalists, lawyers, conservative commentators, and Trump administration staff.
Some of the interviews also offer perspective and legal analysis on the four-count federal indictment against Donald Trump, which alleges that while carrying out a criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S., Trump worked to interfere with the federal government’s counting of votes; that he obstructed the Jan. 6, 2021, certification of Biden’s win; and that he worked to deny voters the right to have their votes counted. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all four counts.
Among those interviewed in the film is Arizona State Rep. Rusty Bowers (R), who describes in detail some of the phone calls he received from Rudy Giuliani on behalf of the President attempting to alter state electors in Arizona to favor Trump.
Arizona State Rep., Rusty Bowers, stood up for oath and constitution when pressured on state electors slate. Click for film clip.
Also interviewed is Georgia elections official, Gabriel Sterling, a self-described “bureaucrat” also devoted to his official duties, who was moved to make public warnings about worker threats during vote counting in Georgia “No one should know who the hell I am,” he says during the film. “I was just doing my job.” Some viewers of the film later reported to be moved and inspired by Bowers and Sterling. History should mark them as democracy heroes.
One review of Democracy on Trial at The Daily Kos called it “a masterpiece documentary” and “deserves an Oscar for best documentary”. The headline of the Buffalo News (Buffalo NY) review noted: “Frontline’s ‘Democracy on Trial’ is Must-See TV for All Voters.” As of 2024, Democracy on Trial remains one of the five most-watched PBS/ Frontline documentaries.
September 24, 2024 / PBS / Frontline
The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump
September 24, 2024: PBS / Frontline airs its traditional profiles of the U.S. Presidential candidates in “The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump”. Click for Amazon.
In late September 2024, PBS Frontline aired its traditional “Presidential choice” profiles of candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. As with its previous edition, in this two-hour documentary, PBS Frontline investigates the lives and character of each candidate as they seek the presidency. Filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team sought out Trump and Harris’ friends, advisors and critics, as well as authors, journalists and political insiders, to present narrative overviews of both candidates’ lives, going all the way back to their childhoods.
Harris’ journey is traced from 1960s Berkeley, through her rise as a prosecutor, her entry into California politics, her time in Washington, D.C. as a U.S. senator, then Joe Biden’s vice president. Harris’ childhood friends, college classmates, advisors in California, White House journalists and others were among those quizzed by Frontline. Trump’s path – better known – was also reiterated, from his New York real estate doings to entertainment and politics, his 2016 campaign through the present, along with interviews of his niece, business and television associates, biographers, and White House advisors.
“How Trump Built His Base” (5:40 min), is one in a series of shorts taken from the full PBS/Frontline film, “The Choice 2024” – this one, covering in part, Trump’s focus on the power of television as a base-building device and his discovery of televangelist Pastor Paula White, who led a massive following. Click for that clip.
A review of The Choice 2024 in Forbes magazine calls it “an unflinching investigation into the candidates life experiences and how their choices and decisions have shaped how they could lead the country over the next four years..” In that review, Kirk is quoted saying, in part: “…This is not a piece about where each of them stands on policy, this story is about the preparation of how they got to be who they are right now, and who they might be as president. Because whoever they might be as president is the result of the years of their lives.”
According to PBS, “What emerges in The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump is the story of two fighters: One seeking vindication and promising a return to greatness, and the other seeking to move beyond the past and promising a greater future.”
October 2024 / Theatrical Biopic
Poster for 2024 film, “The Apprentice,” about Donald Trump during his New York period – here depicting Roy Cohn and first wife, Ivana, on a New York City set – is one of dozens of films & documentaries about him. Click for Amazon.
The Trump theatrical docudrama, The Apprentice, was released to American theaters in mid-October 2024, about three weeks ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Directed by Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi, the film covers Trump’s early years as a real estate developer and the relationship with first wife Ivana.
But at the center of this film is Trump’s key relationship with the nefarious Roy Cohn, (subject of two earlier films noted above) who teaches his charge how to amass wealth and power through deception, intimidation, and media manipulation
The film stars Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Cohn, Martin Donovan as Trump’s father Fred, and Maria Bakalova as Trump’s first wife, Ivana. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024 where the audience gave it an eight-minute standing ovation.
According to Agence France Press, the movie “paints an unflinching but nuanced portrait” of Trump. Along the way in young Donald’s makover, decency is trampled as dealmaking and power moves prevail. Once the Faustian bargain is made with Cohn there is no turning back. Cohn imparts to Trump his three golden power rules: First, “attack, attack, attack.” Then: “admit nothing, deny everything.” And finally: “No matter what happens, claim victory and never admit defeat.” All evident maxims in the real Trump world for the last 50 years.
The film includes controversial scenes, including those that depict Trump raping his first wife, Ivana, abusing amphetamines to lose weight, and undergoing liposuction and plastic surgery to remove a bald spot. Donald Trump described the film as “a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job” and those involved in making it as “human scum.” Earlier, the Trump campaign had denounced the movie as sensationalizing long-debunked lies and said it would be filing a lawsuit. The film struggled to find American distribution due to its subject matter and an attempt by Trump’s legal team to block its release. Briarcliff Entertainment eventually bought the rights, and theatrically released the film on October 11, 2024. As of late October 2024, the film has received generally positive reviews from critics.
Films Not Profiled
Still More Trump
The documentary and theatrical films noted above represent only a portion of those made about or involving Donald Trump. They are mostly on the liberal and critical side of the ledger. There are, of course, a number of other films offering more praiseworthy, conservative, and/or farther-right perspectives on Mr. Trump. Those can be found on the internet, Amazon, or other social media. And Fox News has its own list of Trump specials and documentaries.
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CNN Trump Reports The Trump Interview All Business: The Essential Why Trump Won Trump and Twitter Trump-Russia: Behind The Trump’s First Year: Reign of Chaos Hush Money – Trouble for Trump? The Trump Show: TV’s New Reality The Trump Family Business A Toxic Tale: Trump’s The Impeachment Inquiry: All the President’s Lies Trumping Democracy: White Power on Trial: Return The Fight to Save American The Alex Jones Story: Steve Bannon: Divided We Fall American Coup: The January 6th Perilous Politics: America’s _______________ |
While a few CNN special reports on Donald Trump have been mentioned in this story, there have been at least two dozen CNN hour-long specials involving him in one form or another (see list at right). And the venerable 60 Minutes newsmagazine at CBS has also done a number of Donald Trump segments on its Sunday night shows, also available on line.
Available at HBO is Stopping the Steal (2024), a 1.5 hour account of President Trump’s challenge of the 2020 presidential election results, featuring Repub-lican insiders and former White House appointees.
Filmmaker and author Michael Moore has made two films that involve Donald Trump – Michael Moore in TrumpLand (2016) and Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow produced the 2024 documentary, From Russia With Lev, about Ukrainian- born Lev Parnas’s association with Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani to dig up Ukrainian dirt on Joe Biden and son that led to former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
The UK’s BBC has also produced a number of Trump films, as have Canada and Australia.
Among BBC productions, for example, are: Donald Trump: The Man (January 2021); Trump Takes On the World (Feb 2021) about President Trump and his foreign policy; The Trump Show (BBC 2 TV series, 2020-21, “Follows key moments in Trump’s presidency. Through sex scandals, a pandemic, impeachment, public unrest…the whole world was watching. It was one hell of a show.”); and Trump: The Comeback? (September 2022). In addition to these, British documentary film-maker Alex Holder produced the TV mini-series, Unprecedented (July 2022, Discovery+).
Other British productions include: Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case (BBC Studios, October 2024, 1.5 hr), focusing on the Georgia election racketeering case, and Trump: A Second Chance? (Oct 2024) which follows a group of his supporters. Also among UK productions is Journeyman Pictures’ 40-minute documentary, The Company He Keeps (July 2017), regarding Trump business dealings in Indonesia for resorts in Bali and Java, raising questions about presidential conflicts of interest.
In the spring of 2016, Canada’s CBC News aired a documentary titled, The Rise and Rage of Donald Trump: The Fire Breather. That film was part of CBC’s highly regarded The Fifth Estate series. In Australia, at the University of Sydney, the U.S. Studies Centre produced an hour-long 2017 documentary, President Trump: The First 100 Days. And in August 2018, the Australian TV program, Four Corners with Sarah Ferguson, broadcast the three-part documentary, Trump and Russia.
In addition to documentaries, Trump has also made dozens of cameo appearances in various Hollywood films, television series, and advertisements since the 1980s. In the 1992 movie, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Trump makes a cameo appearance as the Plaza Hotel owner. He also appeared as a guest in: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Job, Suddenly Susan, Sex and the City, The Drew Carey Show, Two Weeks Notice, Spin City, The Nanny, The Associate, The Little Rascals, Zoolander, and Eddie.
Trump, in fact, even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, awarded in 2007 on the basis of his involvement in producing the Miss Universe pageants TV shows from 1996 to 2015. The Trump star, however, has received a share of protests and has been vandalized a few times, though repaired, since it is the custom that once awarded, Walk of Fame stars always remain.
See also at this website, “The Trump Dump: New York Magazine, 2016,” profiling a special issue of that magazine that chronicles Trump’s early career in New York and beyond. Other stories at this website mentioning Trump include: “Political Science: Randy Newnan Music,” regarding nuclear weapons; “I Won’t Back Down” about the use of Tom Petty song in political campaigns; and “Shields, Brooks, Trump,” regarding reaction to some earlier Trump remarks in 2017.
Thanks for visiting — and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research, writing and continued publication of this website. Thank you. – Jack Doyle.
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Date Posted: November 2, 2024
Last Update: January 6, 2025
Comments to: jackdoyle47@gmail.com
BlueSky: jackdoyle.bsky.social
Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Trump on Film: A Partial Listing,
1990-2024,” PopHistoryDig.com, November 2, 2024.
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Books at Amazon.com…
 New book, Sept 2024 > How Trump Squandered a Fortune & Created the Illusion of Success. Click for Amazon. |
 “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” 37 mental health experts offer assessments.Click for book at Amazon. |
 Charles J. Sykes’ book, “How the Right Lost Its Mind,” w/George Will blurb, 2018 edition, Click for Amazon. |
Sources, Links & Additional Information
 Pulitzer Prize- winning reporter, David Cay Johnston’s 2016 book, “The Making of Donald Trump,” 286 pp. One review noted the book “carefully fleshes out the details of Trump's known biography...with solid documentation.” Click for copy. |
 Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig’s book, “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America,” 2021 paperback edition, Penguin Books, 512 pp. Click for copy. |
 Michael Wolff’s best-selling 2018 book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” 352 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 Michael D'Antonio’s 2015 book, “Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success,” Thomas Dunne Books, 400 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 John R. O'Donnell, former President of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, tells his story in 1991 book, “Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump - His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall,” Simon & Schuster. Click for copy. |
 Bob Woodward’s 2018 best-seller, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” Click for Amazon. |
 Peter Baker & Susan Glasser’s 2022 book, “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,”Doubleday, 752 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 Congressman Jamie Raskin’s 2022 bok, “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy,” Harper, 448 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 “The January 6th Report” (December 2022), The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U. S. Capitol, Preface by The New Yorker’s David Remnick and Epilogue by Congressman Jamie Raskin. Click for Amazon. |
 New York Times reporter, Maggie Haberman’s 2022 book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” Penguin, 608 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 Jonathan Karl’s 2023 book, “Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party,” Dutton, 336 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 Anthony T. Michalisko’s 2018 book, “President Trump's Tweets 2016: General Election Edition,” 253 pp. Click for Amazon. |
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Books at Amazon.com…
 Cropped cover of Melissa Murray / Andrew Weissmann book on Trump Indictments. Click for copy. |
 “Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and The Fracturing of America,” Click for Amazon. |
 Liz Cheney’s 2023 book, “Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning.” Little, Brown, 384 pp. Click for copy. |