‘That’s a crime’: George Clooney slams Donald Trump over Iran war threat

Actor and filmmaker George Clooney has condemned US President Donald Trump’s threat earlier this week that a “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “crime”.

“Some say Donald Trump is fine, but if someone says he wants to end civilisation, that’s a crime,” Clooney said in Italy on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), according to local media agency, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.

“You can still support the conservative point of view, but there has to be a line of decency, and we shouldn’t cross it.”

Clooney made the comments before 2700 students at an event organised by the Community Restorative Centre Foundation in collaboration with his foundation in Cuneo, Italy.

The 64-year-old Academy Award-winning actor has regularly been a vocal critic of Trump, who labelled the actor a “second-rate movie ‘star’” during a back-and-forth verbal spat last year, and said the threat crossed the line of decency.

Clooney also said that “this is not a great moment in American history,” and questioned whether he had assisted Trump’s return to the presidency after he authored an op-ed in The New York Times urging then-President Joe Biden to withdraw from the electoral race.

“Do I feel responsible for what happened next? We had our backs against the wall. I said we should have had primaries, but they didn’t let us. It was a shame,” Clooney said, before citing concerns about the future of NATO.

“[NATO] has allowed Europe, but also the rest of the world, to be safe. I’m concerned that an institution like this is being dismantled. Beyond the many mistakes, I believe the US has also done many extraordinary things that have survived.”

Trump has accused NATO allies of betraying the US by not supporting the war in Iran. He has also called out Australia

“You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan,” Trump said.

Later, White House communications director Steven Cheung clapped back at Clooney on X, saying: “The only person committing war crimes is George Clooney for his awful movies and terrible acting ability.”

That comment prompted Clooney to respond with a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Families are losing their loved ones. Children have been incinerated. The world’s economy is on a knife’s edge,” Clooney told the outlet.

“This is a time for vigorous debate at the highest levels. Not for infantile name-calling. I’ll start. A war crime is alleged ‘when there is intent to physically destroy a nation’, as defined by the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute. What is the administration’s defence? [besides calling me a failed actor, which I happily agree with, having starred in Batman and Robin?].”

Regular Trump critic

Clooney has been a regular critic of Trump and the pair have traded barbs in the past. In January, when news emerged that Clooney and wife Amal Clooney had become French citizens, Trump labelled the couple “two of the worst political prognosticators of all time”, adding the actor was better known for his politics than his “totally mediocre movies”. He finished the post with the phrase “make America great again” in capital letters.

A day later, Clooney responded by telling Fox News he agreed “with the current president”. “We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November.”

And in April last year, Clooney hit back at Trump’s comments on Truth Social, in which the president called the actor’s interview on 60 Minutes to promote the stage version of his and Grant Heslov’s 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luck, a “puff piece”.

“I don’t care. I’ve known Donald Trump for a long time. My job is not to please the president of the United States. My job is to try and tell the truth when I can and when I have the opportunity. I am well aware of the idea that people will not like that,” Clooney said on CBS Mornings.

Good Night, and Good Luck is based on real events and set at the height of the “Red Scare” in the 1950s.

In the stage version, Clooney plays veteran CBS journalist Edward Murrow, who took on influential US senator Joseph McCarthy, notorious for leading a crusade to weed out alleged communists in the government and other institutions.

Many of the falsely accused were blacklisted and lost their jobs. McCarthy often targeted journalists, academics and the Hollywood movie industry.

With Cindy Yin