Trump screened Joker at the White House and liked it, aide says

Donald Trump has seen Todd Phillips’ film Joker – and is said to have enjoyed it.

The US president is one of many to have seen the origin story of Batman’s nemesis, which stars Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role.

The film is enjoying huge success both critically and commercially; it took home the biggest prize at Venice Film Festival and recently passed the billion-dollar mark at the box office.

Yahoo News has since confirmed a tweet by CNN journalist Shimon Prokupecz that Trump spent his Saturday night (16 November) watching Phoenix’s character Arthur Fleck devolve into a sociopathic killer in Gotham City during the early Eighties.

A senior White House official also told Yahoo that Trump liked the film. It is unclear whether the fact that Robert De Niro’s character meets a grisly end in the movie had any influence on this (De Niro is one of Trump’s most vocal critics).

Sitting presidents have the luxury of an in-house screening room at the White House, along with the privilege of being able to request new films before their official release.