Donald Trump Hosts Joker Screening at the White House

Joker has officially become a billion-dollar success story Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, and now holds the auspicious title of being the most profitable comic book movie of all time. The buzz generated by Joker‘s success has already put director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix on the award season radar – but apparently that big box office haul put Joker on the radar of a much different crowd than the Golden Globe / Oscar crowd, because President Donald Trump himself has taken notice. Trump reportedly held a screening of Joker at the White House recently, for “family, friends, and some staff,” Yahoo reports.

According to a White House official, Trump ended up liking Joker.

It’s no secret that Joker represents to things that President Trump likes very much: financial success, and media attention. It’s not hard to imagine the president wanting to be “in” on the discussion surrounding Joker, which has indeed been dominating the pop-culture zeitgeist, since its release in early October. It would be interesting to get Trump’s full reaction to Joker – but perhaps he has a tweet for that, given the right prompting?

If we had to guess one thing the president might criticize Joker for, it’s not featuring him in it. Trump has made several famous movie cameos playing himself, in films that are either based in NYC (Home Alone 2, Two Weeks Notice), or involve Trump himself directly (Ghosts Can’t Do It). Joker has become as famous for the catalog of NYC locations used in its production (like those now-iconic “Joker Stairs”), so it wouldn’t be a shock of President Trump – aside from his enjoyment of the film – wouldn’t point out that he should’ve gotten a cameo, being a major staple of NYC.

Moreover, the president could also lean on his historical connection to the Batman franchise: Trump Tower in Manhattan was used for sequences of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 – a fact that Trump was perfectly happy to humble-brag about, to any and everyone that would listen:

“Amazing — both Transformers & Dark Knight Rises featured Trump properties and each grossed over $1B. Just coincidence,” —Donald J. Trump

Joker is now in theaters. Upcoming DC Movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2020.