Before he became the actual president, Donald Trump was cast to play the leader of the free world in “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” in 2015.

Trump dropped out in order to actually run for president, producers of the SyFy series told the Hollywood Reporter.

Eventually, the producers cast Mark Cuban, a harsh critic of Trump, to play the fictional president in the movie about sharks terrorizing Washington, D.C., in fantastical storms.

The idea to approach Trump reportedly came from Ian Ziering, one of the stars of the Sharknado franchise and a guest on Celebrity Apprentice season 7, while Trump was host.

“We got pretty far,” Gerald Webb, casting director and actor on the show, said about the negotiations with Trump’s team. “It was serious talks.” The Sharknado team developed a contract for Trump, and sent it to Michael D. Cohen, who is still representing Trump as president.

Cohen later responded that “Donald’s thinking about making a legitimate run for the presidency, so we’ll get back to you. This might not be the best time,” Sharknado producer David Latt said Cohen told him.

After Trump declined, the producers offered the role to Cuban — with conservative columnist Ann Coulter playing his vice president. Latt said Cohen threatened to sue. “Cohen basically said ‘How dare you? Donald wanted to do this. We’re going to sue you. We’re going to shut the entire show down’” Latt said.

Cohen denied threatening to sue, but did remember speaking with Ziering, the Hollywood Reporter said.

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