A TV movie set to air Tuesday about billionaire real-estate mogul Donald Trump better be accurate – or The Donald is going to sue ABC.
“I hope the overall tenor of the movie is accurate, or I’ll sue their asses off,” vowed Trump, who had nothing to do with “Trump Unauthorized” and doesn’t plan on watching it until it airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“It sounds like a real beauty,” he said. “It sounds like ‘Desperate Housewives’ all over again.”
The two-hour flick, starring Justin Louis in the title role, follows the real-estate mogul’s days as a floppy-haired kid fighting to escape his dad’s shadow to his new life as a reality-TV star with a comb-over on NBC’s “The Apprentice.”
Throughout the movie – which focuses on Trump’s tabloid escapades – Trump ruthlessly uses schemes and tricks to build his empire and grab headlines in an obsessive attempt to build a legacy.
When Trump needs the air rights over Tiffany’s to build Trump Tower, he has his architect draw phony sketches of an ugly building, then threatens to actually build it if he doesn’t get his way.
When he wants to convince Harrah’s to take a chance on his first Atlantic City casino, he creates a phony construction site complete with circling bulldozers to give the impression the project is well under way.
When he’s battling Mayor Ed Koch for permission to construct the tallest building in the world, he tries to sweet-talk the city by renovating Wollman Rink in Central Park.
And when three of his executives die in a tragic helicopter crash, he tells the press that he planned to board the helicopter himself, but changed his mind at the last minute – an alleged lie that gets his face splashed on the front pages.
Although Trump’s spokeswoman said the portrayals of his deals are false, Trump didn’t want to comment on them, saying, “I don’t want to talk about things that took place such a long time ago.”
But parts of the film focusing on Trump’s love life – also filled with games and schemes, according to “Trump Unauthorized” – were well-documented in tabloids at the time.
The movie covers every aspect of Trump’s marriage to ex-wife Ivana, from the moment he caught her eye in a top restaurant to their highly public divorce.
It also looks at Trump’s career as a TV star.
When a producer approaches him at the end of the movie about doing “The Apprentice,” Trump says he’s never been comfortable firing people.
“This isn’t real life, Mr. Trump,” the producer says. “This is reality.”