The White House Just Nominated Trump as the Next James Bond and the Internet Responded With ‘Pie Another Day’
The ‘James Bond’ franchise has been generating considerable excitement in Hollywood lately, and not just because of the usual rumors about who might be the next spy to pick up the Walther PPK. After years of speculation following Daniel Craig’s farewell in ‘No Time to Die’, the search for his replacement has officially moved from fantasy casting into formal auditions.
Amazon MGM Studios confirmed in May that James Bond auditions had begun, with the process having quietly kicked off in the weeks prior. The next Bond film already has a remarkably accomplished creative team assembled around it, with Denis Villeneuve attached to direct, Steven Knight writing the screenplay, and Amy Pascal and David Heyman on board as producers. Casting director Nina Gold, whose credits span ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Crown’, ‘Andor’, and multiple ‘Star Wars’ films, was confirmed to be leading the search, and was recently nominated for an Oscar for her work on ‘Hamnet’.
It was this casting news that prompted a very unexpected participant to throw their hat into the ring. On Saturday evening, the official White House social media account posted a stylized silhouette image of Donald Trump posed as 007 in a faux movie poster, overlaid with the words “Make America Great Again.” The post appeared to be a direct response to the Bond casting announcement, framing the president as a natural candidate for the role.
The internet, predictably, had thoughts. Responses ranged from a post titled “License to Groom” referencing Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, to a parody caption reading “Pie Another Day” alongside an unflattering AI image of the president holding a Big Mac instead of a gun. Other users pointed out visible errors in the AI-generated image, including Trump’s awkwardly positioned hand as he held the pistol, while several commenters expressed frustration that the administration was posting memes during a period of economic anxiety and ongoing foreign conflicts.
The Bond post fits into a broader pattern of AI-assisted self-mythologizing from the Trump White House. The administration previously shared an AI-generated image of Trump depicted as a jacked Jedi for Star Wars Day, as well as a post portraying the president as the hero of ‘The Mandalorian’ series, accompanied by the caption “In a galaxy that demands strength, America stands ready.” The Bond image simply adds another iconic fictional hero to that growing gallery.
Beyond the obvious irony that Bond works for the British government’s MI6 foreign intelligence service, making Trump categorically ineligible for the actual role, Amazon MGM Studios has offered little beyond a brief statement about the casting process. At CinemaCon, Amazon MGM’s head of film Courtenay Valenti told audiences the studio was pairing one of cinema’s most beloved franchises with a world-class filmmaking team, describing Villeneuve’s involvement as setting the stage for something truly worthy of the Bond legacy.
Names like Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson have been circulating as frontrunners in fan discussions, though the studio has not confirmed any contenders. With Nina Gold now formally leading the process and the script still being polished by Knight, the real casting announcement remains some way off.
In the meantime, the question of who should play Bond has become something of a cultural Rorschach test, and given how hard the internet trolled the White House’s attempt to answer it, feel free to weigh in below with your own pick for the next 007.
