"Like watching a car crash over and over"— James Cameron calls Trump's reelection "horrifying" and opens up about New Zealand citizenship

Oscar-winning director James Cameron shared his opinion about Donald Trump's second stint in the highest office at the White House. During his appearance on the Kiwi podcast The F#$%ing News on February 24, 2025, podcast host Paddy Gower asked him what he thought of Trump's reelection, to which Cameron replied:

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"I think it's horrific, I think it's horrifying."

The Avatar director had an analogy about US outlets putting Trump's face on the first page every single day.

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"I just don't want to see that guy's face any more on the front page of the paper. It's inescapable there, it's like watching a car crash over and over and over," he said.

While being in New Zealand isn't necessarily any safer, James Cameron said that there's one benefit he gets from staying in the country— he doesn't have to read about Trump on the front page every single day, adding that it's "just sickening." He compared news outlets in the US to New Zealand outlets, which he said would at least put the same things on page three, which he thinks is better.

James Cameron says his impending New Zealand citizenship "means a lot" to him

While James Cameron still spends a lot of time in the US, he has had a home in New Zealand for years. Soon, it will officially be his home as he awaits his New Zealand citizenship, which he said in the podcast was "imminent."

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"It means a lot. It's something I've worked toward, something I've had to sacrifice for. If you're going to uproot your family and move somewhere, you have to invest, you have to be part of it, you have to earn standing. I just think you've got to earn your right to be in a place."

Growing up in Canada, he said that there are a lot of similarities there and in New Zealand, but that he likes the latter a little better. James Cameron also had wonderful things to say about the Kiwis and their way of life, saying that they have "this kind of equal status in terms of person-hood," and it's something he loves and wants his kids to experience.

When he was asked about what he loved about his adopted hometown in New Zealand, Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Māori name for Wellington Harbour), he said:

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"I love the city. You can't find an ugly spot in this country, but Wellington is unique. You can still walk around and bump into people you know. That's not going to happen in Auckland. That's not going to happen in other cities I've lived or worked in."

This wasn't the first time James Cameron has spoken about his fondness for New Zealand and his adopted hometown of Wellington. He said at Spada's annual Screen Industry Conference in Wellington in 2023 that he now called the New Zealand capital his home. He said that he's a resident of the town and will be a citizen in the next year.

According to a Variety November 2023 report, James Cameron is currently in post-production of Avatar 3, which is set to arrive in movie theaters on December 19. The third installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and any upcoming sequel, is and will be filmed in New Zealand, as Cameron said that he's making the country his permanent movie home.

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