Award-winning actor George Clooney has issued a pointed response to former President Donald Trump, who publicly mocked Clooney and his wife for securing French citizenship. The political spat erupted after Trump penned a lengthy New Year's Eve post criticising the couple.
The Presidential Provocation
On 31 December 2025, while hosting a gala at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Trump launched a verbal attack on George and Amal Clooney. In his post, Trump labelled the couple "two of the worst political prognosticators of all time" for becoming citizens of France. He criticised France's immigration policies and drew comparisons to the Biden administration, referring to the current president as "Sleepy Joe Biden".
Trump further dismissed the 64-year-old actor's career, calling Clooney "average" and stating he makes "totally mediocre" films. "He wasn't a movie star at all," Trump wrote, "he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics." This criticism came shortly after it was revealed in late December that the Clooneys, along with their eight-year-old twins Alexander and Ella, had received their French passports.
Clooney's Calculated Comeback
George Clooney, a politically outspoken liberal, responded with a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that blended agreement with clear political intent. "I totally agree with the current president," Clooney said. "We have to make America great again. We'll start in November." This remark is widely interpreted as a reference to the upcoming US elections.
The actor's decision to raise his family in France has been partly attributed to the country's stringent privacy laws. His retort follows a romantic outing with his wife, human rights attorney Amal Clooney, in the South of France, where the couple appeared happy and relaxed just before Trump's comments surfaced.
Broader Concerns About Media and Democracy
In a revealing interview with Variety on 30 December 2025, just one day before Trump's rant, Clooney discussed his past relationship with the former president. "I knew him very well," Clooney recalled. "He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon... He's a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed."
The conversation turned to Clooney's deep concerns about the state of American media. He strongly criticised television networks ABC and CBS for settling lawsuits filed against them by Trump. "If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, 'Go f*** yourself,' we wouldn't be where we are in the country. That's simply the truth," he stated.
These settlements included a $16 million payment from Paramount (CBS News's parent company) in July 2025 over the editing of a Kamala Harris interview, and a $15 million settlement from ABC in early 2025 related to coverage of E. Jean Carroll's allegations. Many observers saw these payouts as attempts to appease the administration rather than defend press freedom.
Clooney expressed particular alarm about changes at CBS News under new owner David Ellison, who installed conservative commentator Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. "Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak," Clooney warned. "I'm worried about how we inform ourselves and how we're going to discern reality without a functioning press."
Reflecting on the current political climate, Clooney drew parallels to his 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, which chronicles journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against McCarthyism. He quoted Murrow's poignant line: "Let's not confuse dissent with disloyalty." Clooney concluded, "It's a very trying time... But you have to find the most positive way through it. You have to put your head down and keep moving forward because quitting isn't an option."
