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Before Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States, he was almost the Commander-in-Chief of a place that’s perhaps more powerful than this great country of ours: the Sharknado universe.
In a story that’s almost as wonderfully absurd as a never-ending cavalcade of flying temperamental sharks, a new article from The Hollywood Reporter reveals that back in January of 2015, two years before he was sworn in as president, Trump agreed to portray the commander-in-chief in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No. Interestingly enough, Trump wasn’t the production’s first choice—it was Sarah Palin— but negotiations with the former vice presidential nominee had fallen through. Enter Donald. A contract was drawn up and sent to Trump attorney Michael D. Cohen, but the offer was met with silence from Team Trump.
David Latt — the co-founder of Asylum (the film company behind Sharknado) — would soon discover that the reason for the hesitancy was that Trump was mulling over a potential opportunity to oversee a world free of tornado sharks.
“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.”
Sharks, nado or otherwise, wait for no man. Mark Cuban was eventually offered and then accepted the role, which didn’t sit well with Donald.
“Then we immediately heard from Trump’s lawyer,” Latt told THR. “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!'”
Cohen acknowledges to THR that a dinner with renowned Sharknado-buster Ian Ziering to discuss the casting of Trump took place, but says he has no recollection of the angry correspondence.
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming premieres August 6 on Syfy.
