George Clooney is not backing down from his war of words with the Trump administration, firing back at White House Communications Director Steven Cheung after Cheung mocked the actor’s film career in response to Clooney’s accusation that President Donald Trump committed a war crime.
The dispute began on Tuesday when Trump posted a threatening message on Truth Social directed at Iran, warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless the country agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A two-week ceasefire was subsequently reached before Trump’s deadline, but the rhetoric had already ignited a firestorm.
Clooney, 64, addressed Trump’s remarks the following day while speaking to approximately 3,000 high school students at an event in Cuneo, Italy, organized by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, the nonprofit he runs with his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. “Some say Donald Trump is fine,” Clooney told the crowd, according to Italian news agency ANSA. “But if anyone says he wants to end a civilization, that’s a war crime. You can still support the conservative point of view, but there must be a line of decency, and we must not cross it.”
Cheung wasted no time responding. In a statement to The Independent, the White House communications director wrote, and posted on X: “The only person committing war crimes is George Clooney for his awful movies and terrible acting ability.”
Clooney fired back with a statement issued to multiple outlets including Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter, refusing to let the personal attack go unanswered. “Families are losing their loved ones. Children have been incinerated. The world’s economy is on a knife’s edge,” Clooney wrote. “This is a time for vigorous debate at the highest levels. Not for infantile name-calling.”
The actor then turned the tables on the administration, citing specific legal definitions. “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 defense? Besides calling me a failed actor, which I happily agree with, having starred in Batman and Robin.”
It isnot the first time Clooney and Trump have traded barbs. Trump previously described Clooney on Truth Social as “just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics,” and criticized the actor for obtaining French citizenship alongside his wife and two children late last year. Clooney responded to that jab at the time by saying he “totally agrees” with Trump about one thing: “We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November.”
Clooney also used his Cuneo appearance to express concern about the future of NATO, stating that the alliance “has ensured that Europe, but also the rest of the world, has been safe,” and warning that dismantling it “worries me.”
As a two-time Oscar winner — for Best Supporting Actor for Syriana in 2006 and Best Picture as a producer of Argo in 2013— Clooney has long been one of Hollywood’s most outspoken political voices. He wrote a widely read 2024 New York Times essay urging President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race, a move that drew Trump’s public scorn and accusations that Clooney helped pave the way for Trump’s own return to the White House.
The exchange is widely expected to continue. Trump has rarely left a public challenge from a Hollywood critic unanswered, and Clooney has shown no inclination to stay quiet as the Iran conflict deepens and questions about the administration’s war powers and legal exposure continue to mount.