Sylvester Stallone made a surprise appearance at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday night, where it appears he has officially come out of the MAGA closet.
Stallone introduced President-elect Donald Trump at the American First Policy Institute’s black-tie gala; surprising onlookers familiar with the Rocky star’s years-long history of denying any political affiliation.
“I’m very, very proud to be here, I didn’t expect this,” Stallone said, before referencing the opening scenes of his hit 1976 movie.
ADVERTISEMENT
“When I did Rocky, if you remember the first image was a picture of Jesus that says ‘Resurrection A.C. Club.’ I found a Church that had been converted to a boxing ring. So the image pans out from Jesus onto Rocky being hit and at that moment he was the chosen person, and that’s how I began the journey. Something was going to happen, this man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives, just like President Trump," Stallone said.
“We are in the presence of a really mythical character,” Stallone continued, adding that he was in “awe” of Trump.
“I love mythology and this individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could pull off what he pulled off.”
Stallone finished his appearance by going as far as naming Trump “the second George Washington.”
“I’ll just say this, and I mean it,” Stallone said in video posted from the event. “When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world, because without him, you can imagine what the world would look like. Guess what? We’ve got the second George Washington. Congratulations,” he said of Trump.
The pair shook hands and spoke a few words, before Trump took the microphone. “You know Sly does not do that, he does not do that stuff, and he did a beautiful job,” Trump said.
A spokesperson for Stallone did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Other guests at the event included vice-president elect JD Vance, Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump Jr., RFK JR., Cheryl Hines, Tucker Carlson and the president of Argentina, Javier Mile.
The appearance is notable due to Stallone’s prior refusal to involve himself in politics—declining to make any political statements during the contentious 2016, 2020 and even 2024 elections.
Stallone has spoken highly of both Trump and President Joe Biden in previous interviews over the years.
Following Trump’s election win in 2016, Stallone sent Trump a signed poster that read, “greatest knockout in history.”
The move reportedly prompted Trump to consider Stallone for position as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, but Stallone later confirmed he denied the role via Variety. That same year, Stallone attended a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago.
Then, in May 2018, Stallone was invited to the Oval Office with Trump, alongside boxing stars Lennox Lewis and Deontay Wilder, to pardon the boxing great Jack Johnson.
In a 2019 interview with Variety, Stallone claimed he “was not qualified” for potential Trump Administration roles and said he did not want to be in Washington.
The Rambo star also said he did not vote in the 2016 election and was planning not to vote in 2020.
“I’m sitting back on this one, I know Joe Biden, great guy,” he said.
“I try to really stay out of it even though everyone assumes I’m hardcore right, which is not true,” he said, adding that he did not identify as Republican.
“I won’t go to fundraisers, I won’t do anything. I’m just an old filmmaker and that’s it.”
Then, in 2021, Stallone denied a Page Six report that he joined the Mar-a-Lago club, writing in an Instagram post that, “I would like to say to everyone that this never happened. This is just not true.” Stallone, his rep said at the time, was a guest at a fundraising event.
In an October report from Variety, Ramin Setoodeh, co-editor-in-chief and author of Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, revealed Trump’s apparent obsession over a rivalry with the 78-year-old actor and filmmaker, who was filming The Contender at the time Trump filmed The Apprentice, both helmed by producer Mark Burnett.
Trump would tell people, “Sylvester Stallone wasn’t as good at making TV” and that he “couldn’t remember his lines, couldn’t deliver the words to the prompter,” Setoodeh, who interviewed Trump numerous times for his book, explained.
