George Clooney had an unexpected message for Donald Trump when he was asked about the president: “I hope you do well because our country needs it.”
Clooney was among the cadre of Hollywood stars backing Kamala Harris in the 2024 election–after publicly switching his support from former President Joe Biden.
He has also famously feuded with Trump, who branded him a “fake movie actor.”
But appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the 63-year-old actor discussed his reaction after the landslide Democratic Party defeat.
“Well, I don’t know, what am I supposed to do? Storm the f---ing Capitol?” said Clooney, to applause from the studio audience.
Without mentioning Trump by name, the Oscar-winner continued: “Good for you. I hope you do well because our country needs it, and we will meet you in 3.5 years and see where we go next.”
The actor’s philosophical response may have come as some surprise to Democrats up in arms over the president’s flurry of controversial moves to slash the federal budget, round up immigrants, and crush DEI initiatives.
“It’s part of democracy. There are people who agree and disagree, and most of us still like each other, we’re all going to get through it,” he told Colbert.
“I have a son who plays in chess tournaments, loves chess. He’s seven-years-old and he’s playing against a lot of older kids, and he is not winning all the time, as you can imagine,” said Clooney. “He gets upset, and I say, ‘Listen, shake the guy’s hand, you say good game, I’ll get you next time.’ And that’s kind of how you’ve got to live by those rules.”
He told Colbert that he was “raised a Democrat” in Kentucky and smiled ruefully: “It has been nothing but fun.”
Colbert also claimed on the show that he first came up with the idea to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Clooney raised a record $28 million for Biden at a Hollywood event last June.
But after he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times calling for Biden to drop out of the election campaign, the actor got into an online spat with Trump.
“So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time. “He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are. What does Clooney know about anything?… Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television. Movies never really worked for him!!!”
“I will if he does. That’s a trade-off I’d do,” Clooney slapped back on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show on ABC.
