William Shatner gleefully mocked White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller over his culture-war broadside against Paramount’s new Star Trek series.
Miller, 40, lashed out at Star Trek: Starfleet Academy on Thursday, deriding an innocuous scene featuring Holly Hunter, who stars as Captain Nahla Ake, as “tragic” in an X post.
Tragic. But it’s not too late for @paramountplus to save the franchise. Step 1: Reconcile with @WilliamShatner and give him total creative control. https://t.co/HRMDcYeBnU
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) January 16, 2026
The architect of Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda added, “But it’s not too late for @paramountplus to save the franchise. Step 1: Reconcile with @WilliamShatner and give him total creative control.”
On Monday, Shatner, 94, responded to Miller’s suggestion by writing, “I am so on the same page with you @StephenM!”
😳 😱
I am so on the same page with you @StephenM!
The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers!😤
Also @paramountplus needs to up the budget because I’m sure that a well oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant… https://t.co/96MtYUGGWf— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 19, 2026
But it did not take long to become apparent that the Canadian-born actor—who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek series—was ridiculing Miller as he feigned outrage over Hunter’s character wearing glasses.
“The fact that they have not cured Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers!” he wrote. “Also @paramountplus needs to up the budget because I’m sure that a well-oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant future could afford more than one pair of glasses for at least this hyperopic bridge crew.”
Shatner continued, “Do they pass the glasses around while piloting the ship? Shame on the line producers!” before addressing Miller directly:
“That is what you meant, right? I am ready to assume command of the series! Call me!” he wrote.
But the dig apparently went light-years over Miller’s head.
Paramount screwed up royally when they decided to kill off Kirk in Star Trek Generations. @WilliamShatner disagreed strenuously but was a team player and out-acted everyone in the film. But it’s not too late for Paramount to make amends with Shatner and save the franchise. Do it! https://t.co/YORaoM0JEV
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) January 19, 2026
“Paramount screwed up royally when they decided to kill off Kirk in Star Trek Generations. @WilliamShatner disagreed strenuously but was a team player and out-acted everyone in the film. But it’s not too late for Paramount to make amends with Shatner and save the franchise. Do it!” the oblivious Trump aide replied to Shatner’s post.
Shatner, whose character was killed off in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations, told the Daily Beast in a 2017 interview that he was “apolitical.”
But he slammed Trump in May for the president’s repeated calls to make Canada the U.S.’s 51st state.
“At a certain point, persistence becomes insulting,” Shatner told Fox News’ Jesse Watters, before quipping that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney should turn the tables on Trump and offer the U.S. a spot as Canada’s 11th province.
To all of you wonderfully dear naive & gullible types out there whom I love so much…
If you are angry about my posts on the US becoming a Canadian province: imagine how Canadians felt when an actual leader of a friendly neighboring country floated that idea across the border.…— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) May 9, 2025
In a follow-up X post, Shatner encouraged his followers to consider Trump’s annexation ideas through a Canadian’s eyes. “Doesn’t feel good; does it? Learn a lesson from it,” he said.
Star Trek has long demonstrated creator Gene Roddenberry’s progressive values, with the show offering critiques of systemic oppression and breaking new ground with moments like broadcasting one of the first interracial kisses on television between Shatner’s Kirk and Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura in 1968.
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