EW has obtained a statement from Clooney in response to Trump’s harsh criticism that the star is just “an average guy who complained” about politics.

George Clooney fires back at Donald Trump after tirade about his ‘mediocre’ movies, French citizenship

EW has obtained a statement from Clooney in response to Trump's harsh criticism that the star is just "an average guy who complained" about politics.

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes *RuPaul's Drag Race* video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

January 2, 2026 12:02 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

George Clooney and Donald Trump. Credit:

Charley Gallay/Getty; Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty

- George Clooney has fired back at Donald Trump after the president criticized his movies.

- Trump previously celebrated Clooney and wife Amal's new French citizenship.

- The president said that "Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies."

Oscar-winning Hollywood icon George Clooney has fired back at Donald Trump after his recent tirade about the actor's "mediocre" movies. The president's remarks were initially sparked by Clooney and wife Amal's naturalization as French citizens.

Days after Trump celebrated Clooney's family gaining French citizenship,* * obtained a statement from the 64-year-old in response to the president's criticism, which included the politician calling it "Good News" that George and Amal are now citizens of France.

"I totally agree with the current president. We have to make America great again," Clooney's statement reads, referencing Trump's signature slogan, before looking ahead to midterm elections. "We’ll start in November."

George Clooney in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Araya Doheny/Getty

After news of the Clooney family's French citizenship broke in December, Trump initially called George and Amal "two of the worst political prognosticators of all time" in a Dec. 31 Truth Social post, before celebrating the notion that they could, in theory, move to France as citizens.

Trump slammed France for being in the middle of what he called "a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration," before comparing it to immigration under President Joe Biden's administration.**

Bari Weiss fires back at George Clooney's claim that she is 'dismantling' CBS News

George Clooney says 'Ocean's 14' crew is 'too old to do what we used to do'

"Remember when Clooney, after the now infamous debate, dumped Joe during a fundraiser, only to go onto the side of another stellar candidate, Jamala(K!)," Trump wrote, before predicting that Democrats would face "future defeat" if they aligned behind California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2028 presidential election.

"Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies," he said of the *Jay Kelly *actor's political dealings, which included public criticism for Biden following the president's disastrous performance against Trump at a June 2024 debate. "He wasn’t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Though many similarly called for Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential race against Trump (which he eventually did, before endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him on the ticket), left-leaning figures slammed Clooney for doing so in such public fashion.

Donald Trump in December 2025.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty

"George Clooney wrote an op-ed piece in the *New York Times* claiming that after he saw Biden's condition at the recent fundraiser, he doesn't think he's up for the gig. George Clooney? Couldn't he tell him that in person, for god's sakes?" Whoopi Goldberg said on *The View* in July 2024, referencing a piece Clooney wrote for the newspaper.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Goldberg's cohost, Joy Behar, added that she was "mad at George Clooney" over the development, though Alyssa Farah Griffin — a conservative who previously worked under Trump at the White House — pushed back against her colleagues' words.

"I respectfully disagree," Griffin said at the time. "Joe Biden's feelings don't matter more than our country. This is not the media, this is not a narrative, these are Democrats, lifelong, who want to defeat Donald Trump and who know how to win races, saying that Joe Biden cannot win as things are going."

EW has reached out to the White House for a response to Clooney's latest statement.

- Celebrities & Creators

- Celebrity Feuds

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrity”