Is Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie woke?
Movie · 2016
Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie has a wokeness score of 7/10, which we rate as Strongly Ideological. Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.
Key points
- Ethnic child replacement gags mock Trump's alleged racism and tokenism repeatedly.
- Discrimination lawsuit and tenant eviction scenes portray Trump as exploitative bigot.
- Anti-Trump time travel ending and Ron Howard plea deliver explicit political lecture.
Wokeness analysis
This 2016 Funny or Die satire, released amid Donald Trump's presidential campaign, uses the parody of his book 'The Art of the Deal' primarily as a vehicle for political mockery of Trump as a ruthless, bigoted businessman. Key elements include repeated jokes about him replacing child listeners based on ethnicity—swapping a Hispanic boy named Jose for an Asian-American, then an African-American, and finally a Caucasian one—which directly lampoons perceived racial insensitivity and tokenism. Scenes depict Trump fighting 'bogus discrimination lawsuits' with Roy Cohn and evicting rent-controlled tenants via intimidation, framing his success through exploitation and anti-minority tactics. The narrative structure, with a time-traveling 2016 Trump preventing his own presidential run and a post-credits plea from Ron Howard to forget Trump exists, serves as overt anti-Trump commentary. Produced by a left-leaning comedy outlet during the election cycle, the film prioritizes ideological takedowns over neutral entertainment, shoehorning progressive critiques of capitalism, race, and power into every chapter. While humorous in parts and focused on satire rather than broader social justice lectures, the messaging feels forced and agenda-driven, alienating viewers who see it as partisan propaganda rather than balanced comedy. No organic diversity themes exist; representation serves only to mock the subject.
Plot
Framed as a long-lost 1980s TV movie discovered by Ron Howard, the film stars Johnny Depp as Donald Trump explaining chapters from his book 'The Art of the Deal' to a young boy in his office. It covers Trump's early business tactics like intimidating tenants, defeating discrimination suits with Roy Cohn, suing the NFL, buying casinos, marrying Ivana, and building Trump Tower. Celebrity cameos include Patton Oswalt as Merv Griffin, Henry Winkler as Ed Koch, and others. The story culminates in negotiations for the Taj Mahal casino and a bizarre time-travel twist involving 2016 Trump. Released February 10, 2016, by Funny or Die as a 50-minute comedy satire.
Analyzed by AI on May 31, 2026