11 Donald Trump Cameos You Probably Forgot About

It’s hard to believe, but Donald Trump was once just a rich guy known for being rich and charismatic. Now, he’s known for several things, including appearing on TV. People used to associate his name with wealth and being a playboy, and that’s about it. Now, whatever your political leanings, you have other thoughts when you see him. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Donald Trump was busy with his business and cameos on film.

Movies and TV are a great escape from politics and the news. Be careful when you’re bingeing old TV shows and movies, though. Often, someone you didn’t plan on seeing pops up. Don’t get me started on OJ in The Naked Gun movies…

Here are several Donald Trump cameos you probably forgot about:

1. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Season 4, Episode 25)

When a real estate agent visits the Banks family and offers to pay a half-million dollars above the market value of the house, the family goes on a long journey through their prized memories of the house. In other words, toward the end of season 4, the writers decided to do a clip show. Usually, that’s when I’d flip to another station and watch a rerun of Step by Step or The Cosby Show (remember Bill Cosby?), but if you stuck it out for this episode, you can see how exciting getting Donald Trump to appear in person was. Carlton calls him “The Donald” and faints. Everyone is honored. Trump claims he “likes to keep a low profile.” It gets a big laugh. He’s also seen with his then-wife, Marla Maples. Times have changed.

2. The Little Rascals (1994)

For those of you that are too young to remember, the “Little Rascals” were really funny. In 1922. Then, in 1994, a studio adapted the original Our Gang into a movie for kids. My grandparents used to show me the original on VHS, and I loved it. Most kids, however, only know the 90s reboot. Or they don’t know it at all. They don’t even know what a VHS player is. Anyway, one character is a spoiled rich child, and who better than a famously rich man who inherited a lot of money from his dad?

3. Spin City (Season 2, Episode 14)

Donald Trump “wrote a book” the same way I once “made a pizza” by ordering Dominos and paying for the pizza with money. Nevertheless, Trump appears in this funny sitcom about a fictional version of New York’s City Hall to help the mayor write his own book. The Don, unfortunately, doesn’t provide advice so much as brags that writing a book is easy. “The first day, 9 chapters.” he reveals. Later, we found out Trump used a ghostwriter. A ghostwriter who found Trump tough to work with, and warned us all that he has a short attention span.

4. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

In 1987, Oliver Stone directed a film that encapsulated the greed of Wall Street in the 80s. It was called Wall Street, and it gave us Gordon Gekko and the “greed is good” speech. Then, in 2010, he made a follow-up film that was… bad. The movie did, however, give us some insight into Donald Trump who is (where else?) at the hair salon when he meets Gordon. Trump mutters stuff about the market, and says “send me the details” about some vague business deal with “Gordo.” Despite the driector trying to make him sound casual and off-the-cuff… it just sounds like Donald reading a script. Then he delivers the ultimate Trump joke: “has anyone ever told you you’d look great with a combover?”

5. Sex and the City (Season 2, Episode 8)

“Samantha, a Cosmopolitan, and Donald Trump, you just don’t get more New York than that.” Carrie says, as an old man who is likely going to sleep with Samantha takes a brief meeting with Trump. Again, we get a nice “send me the details” from The Don before he leaves. My guess is that Trump does these in exactly one shot. This was back when the character of “the city” was big skyscrapers and beautiful bars with financiers looking to get laid. Now, of course, it’s a hipster “ghost town” (Trump’s words).

6. The Associate (1996)

The only thing more “New York” than seeing Donald Trump in a bar, is going to a bar with a long line to get in and seeing someone more rich and powerful than you are in line, also unable to get a table. In this film about Whoopi Goldberg climbing the corporate ladder, we see Frank (Whoopi’s former boss) getting blown off at a restaurant, even though he’s brought Trump with him. He should be seated first. No dice. In classic Donald fashion, much like his appearance once on Da Ali G show, he allows no time for B.S. Trump leaves with a dismissive “call me.”

7. Zoolander (2001)

There’s been talk of cutting Trump’s various cameos from these films because audiences find them… distracting. Ben Stiller, however, is not one of these people. Stiller said: “I’ve had people reach out to me and say, ‘You should edit Donald Trump out of “Zoolander,” ‘ but at the end of the day, that was a time when that exists and that happened.” It was exciting when they shot it, and we can all look back and say “it was a different time.”

8. Two Weeks Notice (2002)

Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock star in this film about an over-achieving assistant who is sick of being treated by her boss like a nanny, so she puts in her two weeks. How successful is her boss? He casually strolls up to Trump and says “Trump!” That’s keeping it pretty casual. Trump, playing himself once again, claims he’s going to steal away whomever Grant hires in Bullock’s place. When Donald Trump says he’s about to steal your girl, you should put your guard up.

9. WrestleMania 23

Trump appeared in a pay-per-view special during a match called “Hair vs. Hair: Battle of the Billionaires Match.” In classic Trump fashion, he had someone else do the heavy lifting, calling on Bobby Lashley to fight for him. In the end, Trump is on the receiving end of Stone Cold’s signature move: The Stone Cold Stunner.

10. Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

Possibly the most well-known Donald Trump Cameo is also the briefest. When Kevin McAllister is left in NYC without his family (again), he lives it up in a hotel, doing things I can only assume Trump himself has done: mostly eating junk food in a limo. The joke here is that little Kevin needs a stranger’s help, and wouldn’t you know it, the stranger is one of the more famous hotel owners in NYC. Trump helps him out by giving directions in a way that seems like he’s never actually talked to a kid before.

11. Who can forget this softcore porn for Playboy, in which Trump plays himself?

The movie was called Playboy Video Centerfold 2000, and nobody seemed to mind that he appeared in it. What range! What charisma! Donald Trump really can do it all.