President Donald Trump Reportedly Suggested ‘Sharknado’ Nuclear Bomb Strategy to Stop Hurricanes

President Donald Trump is being dragged for his new strategy to stop hurricanes. The commander-in-chief suggested using nuclear bombs to quell the destructive storms, eerily mirroring the plot to the movie Sharknado. Now, social media is full of jokes about the beloved B-movie.

News of the president’s new strategy first surfaced in a report by Axios. Sources told the outlet that the president has mentioned the possibility of nuking hurricanes on more than one occasion, particularly during an official hurricane briefing at the White House.

“I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” said the source, attempting to paraphrase the president. “They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can’t we do that?”

“People were astonished,” they added in their own voice. The others in the room reportedly tried not to react, saying: “sir, we’ll look into that.”

As the story circulated, social media users quickly drew a comparison to the Sharknado franchise. The Syfy channel film series takes a self-mocking look at the disaster genre, portraying giant storms made worse by blood thirsty sharks caught in the wind.

The first Sharknado finds Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) trying to stop the horrifying new storm. One plan that is debated is to drop bombs from helicopters over the storm, blowing it up from the inside. At the climactic moment, Fin puts a bomb into a car before allowing it to be swept up into the storm, showing that the plan actually works.

Still, there is quite a difference between the plot of a 2013 action movie and real life, as Twitter users noted. More than a few made the comparison, and made jokes at the president’s expense. Sharknado director Anthony C. Ferrante joined the chorus before long.

“Once again, #Sharknado predicts the future,” he tweeted.

In case there was any doubt left, the idea of diffusing storms has been officially debunked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Their report noted that hurricanes might not be affected by a blast at all, and in fact the intense winds might only spread the effects of radiation from a nuclear bomb even further. This could have disastrous effects on the environment and the infrastructure, both short term and long term.

President Trump has now denied the story by Axios, calling the story “Just more FAKE NEWS!“

“The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous,” he tweeted. “I never said this.”