'Apprentice' Trailer Examines Source of Trump's 'Never Admit Defeat' Attitude

Donald Trump wasn't always the very public controversial figure he is today ... at one point, he was merely lawyer Roy Cohn's apprentice, learning a never-quit attitude.

This is the viewpoint "The Apprentice" takes in the first trailer for the highly publicized biopic about the former prez's early days in NYC.

Check it out ... Sebastian Stan stars as a young Trump, who is hungry and eager to learn from Jeremy Strong's Cohn.

In the trailer, Cohn dictates several life lessons to the impressionable Trump ... encouraging the future president to always "attack, attack, attack" ... to "admit nothing, deny everything" ... and finally, to "never admit defeat."

Of course, everyone familiar with Trump's rhetoric today would agree the businessman has kept these rules close to his heart.

The timing of the first 'Apprentice' trailer couldn't be more appropriate ... since Trump is set to debate Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time this evening.

There are several rules in place to maintain decorum in the debate -- including muted mics during opponent responses -- but we'd bet Cohn's life lessons will be on display tonight.

"The Apprentice" has stirred up quite a bit of controversy since its debut at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. In a scene that shocked the audience, Stan's Trump is depicted in an alleged rape of his first wife, Maria Bakalova's Ivana Trump.

Trump tried to block the film's release, sending a cease and desist letter back in May ... but the movie's producers defended "The Apprentice" as "a fair and balanced portrait of the former president."