Jimmy Kimmel roasted the White House’s pitch that Donald Trump could become the next James Bond, tying the joke to the president’s approval rating and online posts—less than a week after casting for the next 007 was confirmed as underway.
Jimmy Kimmel didn’t just crack a joke about James Bond on Monday night—he took aim at the White House’s sense of timing.
In his monologue for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC. the late-night host mocked the administration for pushing the idea that Donald Trump could step into the role of 007.. Kimmel framed it as another case of the president and his team “jump[ing] on the crazy train” while broader realities refuse to take a back seat.
He returned again and again to the same mismatch: energy spent on spectacle instead of anything that seems to land with most people.
“Trump also posted about how young he looks,” Kimmel said. “He said, ‘President Trump ages in reverse.’ Like, you’re not aging in reverse. Wearing diapers does not mean you’re aging in reverse.”
Then came the casting punchline. Kimmel referenced the White House’s response to news that the next Bond is being hunted, including a mock-up of Trump as the titular superspy.
“Grab ’em by the ‘Octopussy.’ We got a new James Bond in town,” he quipped, pointing to the 13th Bond movie, which starred Roger Moore as the MI6 agent.
Kimmel pushed the joke into a sharper direction as he talked through what it would mean to treat the role like another metric—like popularity could be substituted for approval.. “I think 007 is his approval rating right now,” he said.. “Imagine being a very unpopular president in the middle of a very unpopular war.. The cost of everything is skyrocketing.. Gas is very expensive.. And you are spending your time posting online about how hot you are. how you captured an alien and how you should be the next James Bond.”
His remarks landed less than a week after it was confirmed that James Bond casting was underway. with Nina Gold tapped to find the next 007.. An Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson said Thursday. “The search for the next James Bond is underway.” The spokesperson added that the studio “don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process. ” while saying it was “excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”
The next chapter of the British spy classic will be directed by Denis Villeneuve and produced by Amy Pascal and David Heyman. The MI6 agent has previously been played by Daniel Craig, Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.
Kimmel’s monologue comes with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airing weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC, but the bigger story—the search for 007—now sits right alongside the loudest noise in the political world: who gets to wear the suit, and who gets mocked for treating it like content.
Jimmy Kimmel James Bond 007 White House Donald Trump Nina Gold Amazon MGM Studios Denis Villeneuve Amy Pascal David Heyman Roger Moore
Bond is way more believable than politics, honestly.
Okay but why does the White House even care about James Bond?? Like isn’t MI6 a whole different thing? Also Kimmel saying “diapers”?? dude just say whatever.
Wait so they’re casting Trump as 007 like actually?? I thought that was just a meme they made up on Twitter. If it’s real then yeah that’s embarrassing, but also kinda genius marketing for ratings lol.
I don’t get the whole “approval rating as 007” thing. Are they saying popularity = spy skills? Because that’s not how any of this works. Plus gas is expensive already so people are gonna be mad no matter what, and then they’re talking about “alien captures” and “hot”?? I just feel like Kimmel is mad at something else and using Bond to vent.