Donald Trump’s win in the presidential elections did not come without its adversaries. The Republican candidate has been a controversial figure for his feuds with several celebrities. He is known to have a short temper, that pushes him into reacting to every jab thrown at him.
The freshly elected US president, who never goes to bed without a robust opinion on something, has indeed been waging war for years against some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Ranging from Golden Globe acceptance speeches to Oscar hosting shots, even to Broadway, the war between Hollywood and Trump is like an infinitely running reality show, and those ratings are pure gold. Here’s every celebrity he has had a feud with.
Meryl Streep
Among Hollywood’s many public spats with Donald Trump, perhaps the most significant one occurred in 2017, when Meryl Streep received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. Streep hit the bullseye for President-elect Trump when he was accused of mocking a reporter with a disability on his campaign trail.
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She cautioned that big people, who use their bully pulpit to humiliate others set a dangerous precedent, saying. “Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence,” she said. Trump responded in classic fashion by dismissing Streep as a “Hillary lover” and labeling her “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood” on Twitter. The dig not only targeted Streep’s acting career but seemed to downplay the gravity of her words.
Jimmy Kimmel
An old rivalry has also been brewing between President Donald Trump and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel first started sparring with Trump during the mogul’s 2016 presidential bid, and things have not looked any better since then. The former president took digs at Kimmel in the social media posts, and the comedian returned fire during his talk show.
During the 2024 Academy Awards, Kimmel read a blistering post from Trump on Truth Social, where the ex-president questioned his hosting abilities. “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars?” Trump wrote, to which Kimmel sarcastically replied, “Thank you for watching. Isn’t it past your jail time?”
The back-and-forth didn’t end there, with Trump continuing to bash Kimmel’s performance, while Kimmel happily used his show as a platform to keep roasting the former president. If Kimmel is ever out of material, it seems Trump is happy to keep the content coming.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has never been one to wade into public waters over politics. But as the world—and Swift herself—moved forward, she started speaking out for liberal causes, such as the Equality Act, and endorsing Joe Biden in his 2020 election campaign. In keeping with Trumpian tradition, the ex-president couldn’t resist comparing his popularity to Swift’s, once proclaiming he was “more popular” than the pop sensation.
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While Donald Trump may have attempted to appear suave, as a book by Ramin Setoodeh titled ‘Apprentice in Wonderland’ reports, he couldn’t resist landing a jab at Swift’s politics. “She’s really liberal? I wonder how a country superstar could be all right being a liberal,” he allegedly said, as if liberalism and country music are opposing forces of the universe.
Robert De Niro
Perhaps the starkest of Donald Trump critics from the A-list in Hollywood, Robert De Niro has slammed him time and again. The American actor and an Oscar winner never hid his animosity towards Donald Trump. To the media, he dubbed him on more than one occasion as a “clown” and a “fool.” In the year 2023, De Niro upped the ante by holding protests outside the Manhattan Criminal Court after Trump appeared for his trial on the hush money case. He went vocal with fiery words as he talked about Donald Trump by invoking the name of some the history’s worst “vicious dictators.”
While De Niro’s activism brought him kudos from many, it came at a price. The National Association of Broadcasters rescinded his Leadership Award for his participation in protests. Trump, not surprisingly, did not bat an eyelid, as his spokesperson said, “Joe Biden is losing nationally. President Trump’s numbers continue to rise. And the best that Biden can do is roll out a washed-up actor.”
Madonna
Pop icon Madonna was on Trump’s target list for 2017, and it was then when she made provocative remarks during one of the Women’s March events held in Washington, D.C. Madonna admitted feeling “fucking angry” and “outraged” upon hearing the views about women from Trump. At one point, she said even, “Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”
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Of course, Trump didn’t waste any time in firing back, labeling her words “disgusting” during an appearance on Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The comment ignited a firestorm of controversy that forced Madonna to apologize via Instagram. But Trump never one to let a moment slide managed to capitalize off the controversy, stirring the pot once again.
Rihanna
Pop star Rihanna didn’t even have to open her mouth to get on Trump’s bad side. Before her 2023 Super Bowl halftime performance, Trump went to Truth Social to declare that Rihanna would be “NOTHING” without her stylist. “Bad everything, and NO TALENT!” he wrote, following criticism from former White House physician Ronny Jackson, who wasn’t thrilled about Rihanna posing in front of anti-Trump graffiti years earlier.
However, Rihanna has not made any public statement. She has at other times expressed her disdain for Trump, requesting him to withdraw her songs in his campaigns and even calling the events “tragic” in 2018.
Snoop Dogg
The feud between Trump and Snoop Dogg flared up in 2017 after the rapper released the music video for “Lavender (Nightfall Remix),” in which he pointed a fake gun at a clown version of Trump. Naturally, Trump responded, tweeting, “Can you imagine what the outcry would be if Snoop Dogg… had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama?”
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Snoop, who never hesitates to provoke controversy, doubled down on his interviews, calling Trump a racist and vowing to vote for the first time in 2020 to oust him from office. But in a twist, nobody could have predicted, Snoop’s tone regarding Trump softened in 2024. After Trump commuted the sentence of Snoop’s pal, Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris, the rapper said, “I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump.” Who saw that coming? Not us.
Michael Moore
Another Hollywood personality who never hesitated to criticize Trump is filmmaker Michael Moore. He took it to the stage with his 2017 Broadway show, ‘The Terms of My Surrender’. The anti-Trump production ran for three months, but even before it ended, Trump was quick to dismiss it as a flop. “The Sloppy Michael Moore Show on Broadway was a TOTAL BOMB and was forced to close. Sad!” Trump tweeted, even though the show did not close earlier than planned.
Moore took the jabs in stride, as he has throughout their feud. The filmmaker has consistently spoken out against Trump’s policies and presidency, always ready with a response to the former president’s slights.
Stephen King
For decades, author Stephen King has terrorized readers with his horror novels, but lately, it’s been Trump who’s managed to make King’s blood boil. A Democrat since the 1970s, King consistently blasts Trump and has called out such policies and legal woes made by this president.
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After Trump’s 2023 conviction, King tweeted out, “Trump brought this on himself.” The author did not stop there, as he also made headlines after declaring that the gunman who nearly assassinated Trump at a campaign rally was a great moral example of the Republican party: its defense of gun rights.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Once upon a time, in the early 2000s, Donald Trump and Arnold Schwarzenegger were like two peas in a conservative pod. Trump was building his reality TV empire and becoming a mogul while Schwarzenegger made the transition from being an action star to being the Governor of California. They shared a bromance of political proportions. That’s why during the Republican National Convention back in 2004, he switched hotels to stay at a Trump property after The Donald requested him to do so. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Fast forward to 2015, when Trump announced his presidential aspirations, the friendship crumbled faster than Schwarzenegger’s box office bombs. NBC, the former home of ‘The Apprentice’, dumped Trump for his incendiary comments on Mexican immigrants. The very same day, Schwarzenegger became the new host of ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ – the starting point for the downward slide in the friendship.
Where once the actor of ‘The Terminator’ looked up to Trump as a friend, things quickly soured when Trump became president. From then on, the two opponents hurled insults back and forth as if they were in the middle of a movie scene, but instead of fewer explosions and more verbal jabs.
Rosie O’Donnell
Perhaps the most well-known and longest-running celebrity battle Trump has been involved with is comedian Rosie O’Donnell. Their storied fight began in 2006 when O’Donnell, then a cohost on ‘The View’, made some comments over the fact that Trump decided not to strip Miss USA Tara Conner of her title, despite reports that she used drugs. O’Donnell didn’t shy away from her words either, labeling Trump a “snake-oil salesman” and teasing his numerous marriages.
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Trump, naturally, shot back, calling O’Donnell a “real loser” and “a woman out of control.” The jabs didn’t slow down after that, with Trump at one point tweeting about O’Donnell’s engagement, saying, “I feel sorry for Rosie’s new partner… a true loser.” O’Donnell, unapologetic, continued to clap back over the years, keeping the feud alive and well.
Mark Cuban
Two business titans who once had a relatively chummy relationship are Mark Cuban and Donald Trump. In 2015, Cuban even gave a nod that he wouldn’t mind being Trump’s running mate. “He says what’s on his mind,” Cuban admired back then. But as the campaign wore on, Cuban’s admiration turned into outright revulsion.
By 2016 he was calling Trump “bat-s*** crazy” and mocking Trump’s respect for economics. Trump, of course, shot back, telling Cuban that he wasn’t smart enough to understand what he was doing. Cuban may not “hate” Trump, but he certainly doesn’t want him back in the Oval Office.
Spike Lee
Spike Lee never hesitates to speak his mind in the public and private space, and Trump came no different for the director. In his Oscar acceptance speech last year, Lee called on voters to make a choice between “love versus hate” during the 2020 election, leaving no doubt as to whom he was referring back then.
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Trump didn’t take it well, calling Lee’s statement a “racist hit” on his presidency. And in true Spike Lee style, the filmmaker continued to call out Trump in later interviews, even going so far as to say that he has tendencies similar to that of the KKK in a 2020 GQ interview.
Anna Wintour
Once upon a time, Donald and Melania Trump appeared on the cover of Vogue, and Donald was a faithful Met Gala attendee. However, things took a wrong turn when Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor-in-chief, supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 elections. Wintour mentioned that she would never let him attend the Met Gala again.
When Vogue’s parent company Condé Nast took a video mocking Clinton supporters, Trump used the opportunity to blast both Vanity Fair and Wintour on Twitter, lighting the fuse on what has now become a cold war of fashion vs. politics.
It seems that no celebrity was safe from the lashes of Donald Trump. Well, if there’s anything we’ve learned from that all-star cast of his fiercest foes, it’s that these celebrities are by no means incapable of upholding themselves. Whether slinging shade at award ceremonies or dropping fiery diss tracks, they keep the heat on, and we have been here for every one of those minutes.
