George Clooney says he used to pal around with 'goofball' Trump

Breadcrumb Trail Links

‘I’d see him out at clubs and at restaurants,’ Oscar winner admits

Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox Sign Up

Published Dec 31, 2025 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 4 minute read

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

George Clooney and Donald Trump are seen in this combination file photo. The two might be enemies now, but the Oscar winner says he used to be on friendly terms with the U.S. president. Photo by Getty ImagesArticle content

George Clooney wasn’t always at odds with Donald Trump. In a new interview Variety profile, the Jay Kelly star says that despite his criticism of the reality-TV star-turned-politician he used to be on friendly terms with the U.S. president.

Advertisement 2

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.

THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors

Article content

“I knew him very well,” Clooney, 64, told the outlet in an interview published this week. “He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon. I’d see him out at clubs and at restaurants. He’s a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed.””

Article content

During Trump’s first presidency, Clooney was a vocal critic of the Republican leader.

Speaking to Postmedia nearly a decade ago, Clooney accused Trump of trying to be a wannabe movie star.

“Donald Trump pays $100,000-a-year to the Screen Actors Guild and has a star on Hollywood Boulevard. I don’t have a star on Hollywood Boulevard, but Donald Trump does,” he said back in 2017.

In that same conversation, Clooney also hit out at Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist.

Your Midday Sun

Thanks for signing up!

Article content

Advertisement 3

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

“Steve Bannon is a failed f—ing screenwriter. If you’ve ever read that bulls— screenplay (referring to The Thing I Am, Bannon’s infamous rap musical), it’s unbelievable. Now, had he in some miraculous way got that thing produced, he’d still be in Hollywood making movies and licking my ass to come do one of his stupid-ass screenplays… That’s who Steve Bannon is,” Clooney said.

The Oscar winner also said he wasn’t an out-of-touch liberal.

“People say, ‘You’re out-of-touch.’ Listen, I sold ladies shoes, I sold insurance door-to-door, I worked at an all-night liquor store, I cut tobacco for a living. I can change the fan belt in my car. I grew up in that world in Kentucky. I’m not separated from it in any shape or form,” he said. “I don’t have to put the word ‘compassion’ in front of the word liberal to prove I give a s—. … I didn’t move to Hollywood and become a liberal. I was raised as a liberal in Kentucky. You think I give a s— about what someone says about me now? Try being a liberal in Kentucky.”

Advertisement 4

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

Trump called Clooney a ‘second-rate movie star’

Clooney, a lifelong Democrat, waded into the 2024 election when he publicly asked then-president Joe Biden to drop out of the race against Trump.

“I had seen the president up close for this fundraiser, and I was surprised. And so I feel as if there was a lot of profiles in cowardice in my party through all of that,” Clooney said in an interview with 60 Minutes back in June. “I believed I had to tell the truth.”

But Clooney’s interview did not sit well with Trump, who questioned the show for giving airtime to the “second-rate movie star.”

“Why would the now highly-discredited 60 Minutes be doing a total ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second-rate movie ‘star’ and failed political pundit,” Trump, 78, wrote on Truth Social.

Advertisement 5

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

“He fought hard for Sleepy Joe’s election, and then, right after the Debate, dumped him like a dog. Later, I assume under orders from the Obama camp, pushed all out for ‘Kamala,’ only to soon realize that this was not going to work out too well,” Trump continued.

Then President Joe Biden shakes hands with actor, director and producer George Clooney during the Kennedy Center honorees reception at the White House in Washington, Dec. 4, 2022. Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

After Clooney wrote a New York Times op-ed urging Biden to step down in July 2024, Trump put the actor on blast, responding to the piece via his Truth Social social media platform, writing, “So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act. He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are.”

Clooney played dogged American journalist Edward R. Murrow last spring in a Broadway version of his movie Good Night, and Good Luck. He said that plot highlighted the need for a free press to hold public officials to account.

Advertisement 6

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

“We are now at a place now where we’ve found that it’s harder and harder and harder to discern the truth. Facts are now negotiated,” Clooney said.

In his year-end conversation with Variety, Clooney pointed to lawsuits both CBS and ABC settled with Trump as evidence that media outlets are capitulating to the president.

“If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go f— yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country,” Clooney said. “That’s simply the truth.”

Clooney and wife Amal granted French citizenship

Clooney’s latest assessment of Trump comes amid news that he actor, his wife Amal and their twins Ella and Alexander have obtained French citizenship.

The couple bought an estate in France in 2021 and he told Esquire in October that he didn’t want his children growing up “in the culture of Hollywood.”

Advertisement 7

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

“I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids,” Clooney said. “A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it. But now, for them, it’s like – they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com