Major Hollywood Star Claims Donald Trump Asked Her on a Date the Same Day She Got Divorced: 'I Thought It Was a Joke'
Donald Trump asked Emma Thompson on a date in the 90s.
Aug. 10 2025, Published 12:45 p.m. ET
Emma Thompson has revealed that Donald Trump once asked her on a date — and it happened on the same day she finalized her divorce from Kenneth Branagh, RadarOnline.com can report.
The Oscar-winning actress, 66, shared the story during an appearance at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where she received the Leopard Club Award on Friday, Aug. 8, for her career achievements.
Trump and Thompson
The surprising phone call came after the president had separated from his second wife.
Thompson told an outlet the unexpected call from the billionaire came in 1998 while she was on the set of the dramedy Primary Colors.
The Saving Mr. Banks actress revealed: "I was in a trailer on the set … when my phone rang, and I answered it to hear the businessman, 79, say: 'Hello, this is Donald Trump.'"
She admitted: "I thought it was a joke and asked, 'How can I help you?' Maybe he needed directions from someone.
"Then he said: 'I'd love you to come and stay at one of my beautiful places. Maybe we could have dinner.'"
Her reply was polite but noncommittal. She said: "Well, that's very sweet. Thank you so much. I'll get back to you."
Looking for a companion
Emma described how she was in her trailer while filming 'Primary Colors', when her phone rang.
At the time, Trump had recently separated from his second wife, Marla Maples, and Thompson suggested he may have been looking for a companion.
She said: "I realized that on that day, my divorce decree had come through. And I bet he's got people looking for suitable people he could take out on his arm. You know, a nice divorcée, that's what he was looking for."
Thompson, whose new thriller The Dead of Winter also premiered at the Swiss festival, added that Trump somehow found her number in her trailer.
"I mean, that's stalking," she said, before joking about how the date might have changed where the world is today. "I could have gone on a date with Donald Trump, and then I would have a story to tell. I could have changed the course of American history."
Thompson's love life
Thompson married her 'Sense and Sensibility' co-star Greg Wise in 2003.
Thompson and Branagh, 64, met in 1987 on the set of the miniseries Fortunes of War and married two years later. They divorced in 1995 after Branagh's relationship with actress Helena Bonham Carter.
In 2003, Thompson married actor Greg Wise, whom she met during the filming of Sense and Sensibility in 1995. They share two children: Tindyebwa "Tindy" Agaba and daughter Gaia, 25, who accompanied her to the Locarno Film Festival.
Thompson and politics
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
The Locarno Film Festival gave Thompson the Leopard Club Award for career achievements.
Thompson, who started out as a comedian, has never shied away from tackling politics.
She said: "I did jokes about Margaret Thatcher and herpes, you know? It's the simplest thing you can get from unprotected sex. I said that Thatcher and herpes were both very difficult to get rid of. It still stands to this day.
"Later, I wrote a series of comedy sketches and one of them was about a Victorian woman coming to see her mother. Her husband appears to have a 'small creature' attached to her body. She's talking about his p----, of course, and it's about sexual ignorance, but it's funny. The producer of Sense and Sensibility saw that and thought: 'This woman can adapt Jane Austen!' That's so weird."
