Anti-Trumper George Clooney Takes a Brutal Swipe at The Don After Their Close Friendship Took a Nasty Turn Over Politics
George Clooney opened up about his former 'close' friendship with Donald Trump.
Dec. 31 2025, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
George Clooney has long been a critic of Donald Trump, but the outspoken liberal has now opened up about their former friendship and how it ended over politics, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Clooney, 64 – who famously penned an op-ed urging ex-President Joe Biden to suspend his reelection campaign in hopes of Vice President Kamala Harris having better odds at defeating Trump, 79, in the 2024 election – noted he once knew the Republican president "very well" and considered him to be a "big goofball."
Clooney Recalls Friendship with 'Goofball' Trump
Clooney said he knew Trump 'very well' before the president launched his political career.
In a recent interview discussing his life and latest film, Jay Kelly, Clooney reflected on his former friendship with Trump.
"I knew him very well," Clooney recalled of the former reality star turned president. "He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon. I'd see him out at clubs and at restaurants."
"(Trump's) a big goofball," the Oscar winner added. "Well, he was. That all changed."
While the friendship between Clooney and Trump may have changed, the actor's blunt political takes have not.
Clooney Rips Networks 'Bowing' to Trump
Clooney emphasized Trump used to be a 'big goofball.'
During the same interview, the O' Brother Where Art Thou star slammed networks that seemingly bent the knee to Trump by settling multimillion-dollar lawsuits he filed against them.
Trump reached a $16million settlement with CBS' parent company, Paramount, in July after he sued the network over what he alleged was "deceptive" editing in a 60 Minutes interview with then-Democratic nominee Harris.
The president also sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation, claiming the anchor falsely stated he was found liable for rape in E. Jean Carroll's civil lawsuit case, in which a jury found the president liable for sexual abuse. The network agreed to settle with Trump in December 2024 for $15million, which was said to go toward his future presidential library, as well as agreeing to pay one million in legal fees.
The actor slammed CBS and ABC for settling multimillion-dollar lawsuits filed 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," Clooney said. "That's simply the truth."
Clooney went on to air his frustrations and concerns over Paramount's new owner, David Ellison, the son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, both of whom Trump has praised to the press. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the $8billion merger of David's Skydance Media with Paramount in August.
Within two months of David taking over as Chairman and CEO of Paramount, he overhauled CBS News and tapped conservative Bari Weiss to serve as Editor-in-Chief.
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Clooney warned Bari Weiss was 'dismantling CBS News' following the controversial Paramount merger.
Clooney didn't hold back when discussing the changes Trump-aligned Paramount has made at CBS News.
"Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak," the Ocean's Eleven star said. "I'm worried about how we inform ourselves and how we're going to discern reality without a functioning press."
The movie star then recalled a line from his film and play, Good Night, and Good Luck, saying, "'Let’s not confuse dissent with disloyalty.'"
"I mean, what a beautiful, important statement about who we are at our best. But all too often we fall short," Clooney remarked.
