Donald Trump ended 2025 with a familiar target in his sights: George Clooney. The president’s New Year’s Eve Truth Social rant celebrated the actor’s new French citizenship as “Good News!”—but laced it with barbs about Clooney’s political misjudgments and “mediocre” movies.
“Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies,” Trump fumed. “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!”
Clooney, never one to back down, fired back swiftly via The Hollywood Reporter. “I totally agree with the current president,” he quipped. “We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November.”
The 64-year-old Ocean’s Eleven star, alongside wife Amal, 47, and their eight-year-old twins Alexander and Ella, secured French citizenship via a decree published in the Journal Officiel just after Christmas. The move solidifies their bond with the European nation, where they have been quietly building a life away from the frantic energy of the American news cycle. Their Provence home near Brignoles—a 425-acre estate with vineyards bought in 2021—has become family central.
Clooney has long praised France’s appeal for raising kids away from Hollywood glare. “They have a much better life. I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood,” he told Esquire. “France—they kind of don’t give a shit about fame. I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi.”
He’s even studying French—”400 days of courses” via app, though he jokes it’s “horrible.” To RTL radio: “I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it.”
The Clooneys’ global portfolio spans Lake Como, Italy; South Oxfordshire, England; Los Angeles; and Los Cabos, Mexico. This move aligns with Clooney’s post-Ocean’s pivot toward privacy and politics—he urged Joe Biden to step aside in a 2024 New York Times op-ed.
They’re not alone among celebrities seeking European sanctuary. Johnny Depp raised Lily-Rose and Jack with Vanessa Paradis in France since 1998, valuing the low-key life. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt raised their six kids at Château Miraval during their marriage. Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul relocated his family to Paris in 2025 for similar reasons.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi fled to the Cotswolds post-Trump reelection, citing equal rights fears—Rosie O’Donnell went to Ireland, Fisher Stevens escaped amid election angst, Lily Collins chose Copenhagen’s calm, and Amber Heard settled in Madrid after her Depp trial.
These exits reflect a broader unease among Hollywood’s liberal elite, who see Trump’s America as hostile to their values. For families like the Clooneys, it’s less about politics and more about normalcy—kids biking without cameras, schools free of tabloid spies. Yet Trump’s jab highlights the irony: fleeing to France, which he slams for immigration woes.
Clooney’s retort keeps the feud alive, teasing midterms. As A-listers vote with their passports, it underscores a cultural divide: one side chasing global havens, the other rallying to “Make America Great Again.” Clooney’s French adventure may shield his family, but it won’t silence the political spotlight.
