5 brutal things Hollywood insiders recall from Trump's time in Los Angeles
President Trump never quite fit in in his hometown of New York City. But in Los Angeles, especially before his time on The Apprentice, it was even worse. Here are five remarks and recollections from Hollywood insiders documenting Trump's unorthodox time in show business, as reported by Los Angeles Magazine.
1. Trump spent a lot of time running beauty pageants, but as Susan Winston, the producer of nine of them, put it, "No one cared about Donald Trump in Hollywood. ... There were people in Hollywood who had much more power, much more money."
2. A lot of Winston's negativity stems from how, as she put it, Trump would "show up on the day of the pageant" and, despite playing no role in its production, demand he "was seen on camera three times." Winston retaliated by making Trump shake her hand even though she "knew he didn't like to touch people," she said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. Jeff Klein, who owns the celebrity hot spot Tower Bar, recalled how Trump would march in with then film producer, now Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and "demand a prominent table, the one everyone can see as you come in." "It's not where real movie stars sit," Klein added, but said Trump would say hello to everyone who walked in anyway.
4. Klein also hit Trump with this zinger about his show business aspirations: "I don't think [Trump] could have been a mogul. Hollywood is like high school — they would have made fun of him."
5. Trump can't say the word "film," which seems like a hindrance to a life in Hollywood in itself. "He says 'fill-im.' He said, 'I can't say that word. I just can't say it. It doesn't come out," former Apprentice producer Jonathan Braun recalled.
Read more about Trump's Hollywood days at Los Angeles Magazine.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Five key changes from Rachel Reeves’ make-or-break budgetThe Explainer The chancellor is relying on a ‘smorgasbord’ of targeted revenue raisers to keep MPs, markets and voters onside
-
Prisoner 951: ‘illuminating’ Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe dramaThe Week Recommends 'Harrowing' tale of prison ordeal and an ‘unbreakable’ bond between husband and wife
-
Crossword: November 26, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
