President Trump Was Originally Cast To Play POTUS In Sharknado 3

According to a report from the Hollywood Reporter, President Trump was originally cast to play POTUS in “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!”

Yes, seriously.

Producers’ first choice to play the leader of the free world in the Washington, D.C.-set disaster film was Sarah Palin, but negotiations with the former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee had fallen through. That’s when Ian Ziering, the gung-ho star of the schlocky Syfy franchise, had the inspiration to capitalize on the special relationship he’d developed with Trump while taping Celebrity Apprentice (Ziering made it as far as the penultimate task). His reality TV boss would make a good commander in chief, he reasoned. An offer went out. Almost immediately, it elicited a response.

 

“The Donald said yes,” recalls David Latt, the 51-year-old co-founder of The Asylum, the off-brand assembly line behind the Sharknado series. “He was thrilled to be asked.”

Trump’s real life presidential aspirations ultimately led to Mark Cuban taking on the role (a real-life critic, crazy huh?). However, Trump’s lawyer Michael D. Cohen was miffed at the casting change and threatened to sue. Back to that in a second.

It was close. The casting director Gerald Webb said they got “pretty far” in the negotiation process. They even sent a contract to Cohen, but he didn’t immediately respond.

But enthusiasm turned into weeks of silence from the Trump camp. Eventually, a reason for the stalling emerged. “Donald’s thinking about making a legitimate run for the presidency, so we’ll get back to you,” Latt recalls Cohen saying. “This might not be the best time.” With the production clock ticking, Asylum pulled the trigger on a backup plan, offering the role to Mark Cuban — a modest casting coup that Syfy trumpeted with a press release.

 

“Then we immediately heard from Trump’s lawyer,” recalls Latt. “He basically said, ‘How dare you? Donald wanted to do this. We’re going to sue you! We’re going to shut the entire show down!’ ” Contacted by THR, Cohen acknowledges a dinner with Ziering to discuss casting Trump but says he has no recollection of the angry correspondence.

Let’s recap: Donald Trump was slated to play POTUS in Sharknado 3 but decided to run for President in real life instead. And now we have real life President Trump.

In other Sharknado related news, the originator, Thunder Levin, believes a Sharknado-like situation could actually happen, thanks to climate change.

“We know that powerful enough tornadoes and hurricanes can lift large objects, including sharks if they’re passing over water,” said Levin, who wrote the screenplay for the original “Sharknado,” which aired on the Syfy channel to great finfare in 2013.

 

“As global warming gets worse, it adds more energy to the atmospheric system,” he said. “So it’s perfectly logical: A more powerful weather phenomenon makes [a Sharkicane] more likely.”

A Sharkicane is “perfectly logical.” Good thing we have Donald Trump in office. Screw the movie. He doesn’t need it. He’s the REAL President who will deal with the REAL Sharkicane when it comes. And it’s coming you guys. Trump pulled us out of the Paris Climate Agreement, so this is inevitable. Get ready for rising sea levels and flying sharks.