James Cameron has some choice words for America’s political state of affairs.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker recently reacted to the reelection of President Donald Trump and his subsequent move to make Elon Musk a special government employee in charge of the new so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The unofficial advisory body is actively dismantling numerous federal agencies and ordering mass firings of federal workers under the purported aim of cutting wasteful public spending, despite Musk’s potential conflicts of interest.
“I think it’s horrific,” Cameron told New Zealand outlet Stuff earlier this month.
“I see a turn away from everything decent,” he added. “America doesn’t stand for anything if it doesn’t stand for what it has historically stood for, you know? It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they’re hollowing it out as fast as they can — for their own benefit.”
Cameron lived in California his entire adult life until moving to New Zealand in 2020. He’s currently on track to become a citizen there, and while he says it doesn’t fully shield him from the dire politics emanating from the U.S., the island country does offer some refuge.
“I think we’re all in this together, globally,” Cameron told Stuff. “I don’t know if I feel any safer here, but I certainly feel like I don’t have to read about it on the front page every single day. And it’s just sickening. And there’s something nice about the New Zealand outlets.”
“At least they’ll put it on page three!” he joked about the local news edging Trump out.
Cameron has explored the cataclysmic consequences of climate change inaction and unchecked power sidelining humanity in many of his films, including the “Avatar” and “Terminator” franchises, respectively, which reflect issues Trump has been accused of exacerbating.
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For example, the president reportedly confirmed Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency budget will be cut by 65%, and recently floated plans for the U.S. to rebuild Gaza after more than a year of bombardment — to turn it into a lucrative “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Cameron told Stuff his New Zealand citizenship is “imminent” and likened the country to his native Canada, noting that he’s “had to sacrifice” a lot to move there and “be a part of it.” As for Trump and his second term, the “Titanic” director aptly described them as a disaster.
“I just don’t want to see that guy’s face anymore, on the front page of the paper,” Cameron told the outlet. “It’s inescapable there [in the U.S.]. It’s inescapable. It’s like watching a car crash over and over and over and over.”