What did Taika Waititi say about Donald Trump? Director reveals former POTUS’s list of demands during NBC commercial

Taika Waititi, the New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian opened up about Donald Trump's list of demands while appearing in NBC’s 2012 Super Bowl ad. He spoke about it on this season 2 episode 10 of SmartLess podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes.

Bateman asked Waititi if Trump had “a set of specifications” to adhere to as the spot's director. He said,

"Yep, there was a list! There was a piece of paper with a list of demands."

The Super Bowl ad was named Brotherhood of Man which included a musical number featuring the 2012 stars of NBC and its hit shows including The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, and 30 Rock, as per HuffPost.

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Taika Waititi recalls Trump’s "List of Demands" when Directing Him in the 2012 NBC Super Bowl ad

Taika Waititi was the director of the Super Bowl ad in 2012 and recently revealed that the former U.S. President Donald Trump had multiple requirements, even though he ultimately only appeared on screen for less than two seconds.

Donald Trump was part of NBC's The Apprentice TV series where he played the role of the show's host for the first 14 seasons. He was also a producer of the series. When the Super Bowl ad was getting filmed many NBC stars appeared in the 3:50 minute ad, Trump being one of them, according to The New York Times.

Taika Waititi spoke about the atmosphere in the sets, during the time, in the SmartLess podcast. He snickered when he remembered the shows being featured in the advertisement including The Apprentice. He said with a chuckle,

"You know who else was in that? Donald Trump. I directed Trumpy."

Jason Bateman, The Switch actor, asked if Trump had “a set of specifications” that Taika Waititi had to adhere to as the director and the comedian answered in affirmation, as per Variety.

He explained that among the list of demands was not only how tall the camera had to be, but also what kind of lighting Trump had to have. When Bateman asked, “Right. The way that he likes to be lit? The height of the camera?” Taiki responded,

"Yep. The height of the camera. Exactly. It had to be a certain height to make him look a little thinner. I think it had like a sort of, whatever the pantone of orange was that he had to appear as on-screen."

Taika Waititi also revealed the kind of staff Trump brought into the set as his own personal hype woman. He spoke about the make-up employees saying,

"He had a sort of like a make-up person who was also his ego booster. So she would like, touch him up and say ‘Oh Mr. Trump, oh Mr. Trump, you look fantastic.'"

Waititi shot the Brotherhood of Man advertisement in 2011, years before he would earn immense recognition in Hollywood as the director of Thor: Ragnarok. At the time, the future Oscar winner had just released his New Zealand movies Eagle vs. Shark and Boy, according to Variety.

His profile later skyrocketed with What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which were released after the NBC Super Bowl commercial.

The director said on the SmartLess podcast that he agreed to direct the Thor sequel, Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) for the money.