Trump Unauthorized (2005)

Trump Unauthorized is a 2005 American biographical drama television film about businessman and future President of the United States Donald Trump. The film was directed by John David Coles and written by Keith Curran, and stars Justin Louis as Trump. The film chronicles Trump's life, including his career and his marriages to Ivana Trump and Marla Maples. Trump Unauthorized is based on multiple sources, including two biographies by Gwenda Blair, The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire and Donald Trump: Master Apprentice.

The film premiered on ABC on May 24, 2005. It received mostly negative reviews, although Louis' performance was praised by some critics and by Donald Trump, who was not involved with the film but called it a "great compliment" despite some inaccuracies. Several reviewers criticized the accent used by Katheryn Winnick for her role as Ivana Trump.

Plot:

Real estate developer Fred Trump is speaking with an associate on a telephone, while his son, Donald, is stacking building blocks on a window sill that overlooks the Manhattan skyline. As a young man, Donald goes against his father's advice and leaves his hometown to start his own real estate career in Manhattan, despite an ongoing recession. Donald plans to redevelop the Penn Central railyard into a convention center, but property owner Joseph Eichler is not convinced that Donald can complete such a large project, particularly without the support of New York City mayor Abraham Beame. Donald gains the support of Mayor Beame, but is unsuccessful in finding financiers for the project. Donald then hires lawyer Peter Wennik to advise him. Donald meets Ivana Zelníčková and the two get married, despite her initial reluctance to sign a prenuptial agreement. Despite Peter's advice, Donald purchases the aging Commodore Hotel with plans to renovate it, so he can attract financiers for larger projects in the future. Fred criticizes Donald's decision to put Ivana in charge of the hotel interior design, as she is not a professional designer.

After the hotel's opening, Donald plans to build Trump Tower in Manhattan, despite his father's advice that developers never name buildings after themselves. Donald purchases the Bonwit Teller building so he can demolish it to build Trump Tower. However, Donald must also convince the owner of an adjacent Tiffany store to sell him the air rights in order to build the project as envisioned. Donald has architect Der Scutt create two designs for the Trump Tower: an attractive design, and an unflattering design that Donald threatens to approve if the air rights are not sold to him. Donald is allowed to purchase the air rights, and construction begins on Trump Tower. Donald is upset when Trump Tower's height is reduced to 58 stories, although he decides to continue referring to it as a 68-story building, believing that the floor numbers do not have to be in sequential order. Fred Trump Jr., Donald's brother who suffers from alcoholism, dies of a massive heart attack. Trump Tower opens two years later, but Donald is still depressed about his brother's death and that he is not alive to see the grand opening.

Donald decides to pursue business in Atlantic City, where he plans to open the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. Donald hires his brother, Robert, to oversee his casino plans. Donald and Robert convince Harrah's to become a partner in the project after arranging for construction vehicles to work on the site, to give the impression that construction is already underway despite not being scheduled to start for another six months. When Donald realizes that the world's tallest building is not located in New York, he announces plans to have such a building constructed on the Penn Central site, as part of a project called Television City. However, Donald's plans are rejected by New York City mayor Ed Koch. Donald learns of the city's failed renovation attempts for the Wollman Rink and subsequently finishes the project, but Koch still will not allow construction of the Television City tower.

To promote his new book, The Art of the Deal, Donald suggests in an interview that he may become a candidate in the 1988 U.S. presidential election. At a book signing, Donald meets Marla Maples and the two begin a secretive relationship that is eventually reported in newspapers. Peter is later killed in a helicopter crash. For additional publicity, Donald tells a reporter that he had also been scheduled to fly on that helicopter. During a vacation in Aspen, Ivana discovers that Marla is also there and the two engage in a verbal fight that creates additional headlines. Donald eventually brings Marla as his date to the grand opening of the Trump Taj Mahal resort in Atlantic City, a project that Robert had warned against. On opening night, difficulties arise when half of the slot machines are shut down; as a result, Robert decides to quit overseeing Donald's casino projects. With $2 billion in debt, Donald faces the possibility of bankruptcy. Donald convinces financial officials to loan him more money to maintain the popularity of his brand name so he can eventually pay off the debt. Years later, Donald has recovered from his financial problems and meets a television producer who pitches an untitled reality series that would star Donald and would involve him firing people. Donald initially is reluctant, stating that he does not like to fire people because it makes him uncomfortable; however, the producer tells him that the firings would not be real.