Clooney Reveals Surprising Past Ties With President Trump
George Clooney and President Donald Trump share a surprising and complex history.
“I was quite familiar with him,” Clooney revealed to Variety in December 2025. “He would frequently contact me, and he even attempted to arrange for me to see a spinal surgeon at a hospital.”
According to Clooney, Trump was consistently “a rather comical figure” prior to entering politics in 2016. The former Celebrity Apprentice host was re-elected as president in both 2016 and 2024.
Continue reading for a detailed examination of Clooney and Trump’s relationship, friendship, and more:
George Clooney Details Past Friendship With President Donald Trump
Developing a Friendship
While speaking with Variety in 2025, Clooney described the nature of his connection with Trump.
“I would encounter him at clubs and restaurants. He was a rather comical figure,” the actor stated. “However, that shifted significantly.”
Trump ran for president as a Republican, while Clooney has openly expressed his liberal viewpoints.
“It’s a particularly challenging period,” Clooney told the publication. “It can be disheartening or provoke considerable anger. But one must discover the most optimistic path forward. You have to remain focused and continue progressing because abandoning your efforts is not an option.”
All About Politics
Clooney and Trump’s differing political ideologies altered the trajectory of their relationship, with the actor even publishing a 2024 op-ed in The New York Times before the general election. Rather than criticizing Trump, Clooney dedicated the entire essay to urging then-President Joe Biden not to pursue another term. (Biden ultimately withdrew, endorsing former Vice President Kamala Harris before she lost to Trump.)
“I’m not sure if it was a courageous act. It felt like a civic responsibility,” Clooney later told CNN in June 2025 regarding the publication of the article. “I felt that individuals on my side – I’m a Democrat … particularly in Kentucky, so I understand – when I observed people within my political circle not being truthful, I believed it was time to speak out.”
He added, “The concept of freedom of expression, specifically the idea of it, is that you cannot demand freedom of speech and then insist, ‘But refrain from saying negative things about me.’. That’s the agreement. You must take a position. If you believe in it, advocate for it, confront the consequences. That’s the established procedure.”
Relocating Overseas
Shortly after speaking with Variety in 2025, news emerged that George and his wife, Amal Clooney, along with their two children, had been granted French citizenship. Trump, meanwhile, responded to the news days after George’s interview was released.
“Wonderful News! George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political commentators of all time, have officially become citizens of France,” Trump wrote via his Truth Social platform in December 2025. “[The country] is, regrettably, experiencing a significant crime issue due to their remarkably poor management of immigration, much like we faced under Sleepy Joe Biden.”
Trump, also targeting Clooney’s 2024 essay, further asserted that George “received more attention for his political activities than he did for his relatively few, and rather unremarkable movies.”
“He wasn’t a movie star at all,” Trump claimed. “He was simply an average person who frequently complained about sensible approaches to politics.”
George Responds to the Controversy
George offered a retort after Trump’s social media comments.
“I completely concur with the current president,” he said in a January 2026 statement, per Variety. “We must make America great again. We’ll begin in November.”
Trump, who popularized the “Make America Great Again” movement during his presidential campaigns, will be ineligible to seek a third term according to the U.S. constitution.
