George Clooney fires back at Trump after US president mocks his French citizenship

George Clooney has lashed out at US president Donald Trump for criticising France’s decision to grant the Hollywood actor and his family French citizenship.

The 64-year-old Oscar winner, his wife, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, and their two children became French citizens earlier this month after living on a property in southern France for years.

Clooney has hailed French privacy laws that have kept his family largely protected from international media intrusion, as well as the opportunity to raise his children outside Hollywood.

Trump, whose administration has backed anti-immigration parties in Europe, wrote on Truth Social that France was welcome to the Ocean’s Eleven star, who is a long-term Democrat supporter, fundraiser and a vocal critic of the president.

“Good News! George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France which is, sadly, in the midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration,” Trump wrote.

“Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies,” the president added. “He wasn’t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics.”

Referring to the US midterm elections on 3 November, Clooney told the Hollywood Reporter in response: “I totally agree with the current president. We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November.”

George Clooney and Amal Clooney pose for a photo before a screening of the film, The Boys in the Boat, in London in 2023. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/Invision/AP

The news that Clooney and his family are becoming French comes before language requirements for citizenship being toughened for everyone else under new immigration rules from 1 January.

A junior member of French president Emmanuel Macron’s government had also criticised the decision to award passports despite Clooney speaking poor French.

“Personally, I understand the feeling of some French people of a double standard,” Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a junior interior minister, told the France Info radio station. “We need to be careful about the message we’re sending.”

Her boss, interior minister Laurent Nunez, and the foreign ministry defended the decision.

The civil code states that “French nationality may be conferred by naturalisation, upon the proposal of the minister of foreign affairs, to any French-speaking foreigner who applies for it and who contributes through their distinguished service to France’s influence and the prosperity of its international economic relations.”

Under the new immigration rules, applicants will need a certificate showing they have a level of French that could get them into a French university. They will also have to pass a civic knowledge test.

But Clooney has conceded that his French remains poor. “I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses,” the actor told RTL radio – in English – in December.

His wife, an international human rights lawyer and dual UK-Lebanese national, speaks fluent French.

Clooney bought the Domaine du Canadel, a former wine estate, near the Provence town of Brignoles, in 2021. He said it is where his family is “happiest”.

Nunez, the interior minister, said he was “very happy” with the actor and his family becoming French, saying the country was lucky to have them.

The French foreign ministry said the passport allocation for the Clooneys “meets the conditions set by law” for naturalisation, having “followed a rigorous procedure including security investigations, regulatory naturalisation interviews at the prefecture, and the payment of tax stamps.”

The Clooneys “contribute through their distinguished service to France’s international influence and cultural prestige” through the actor’s role in the film industry, the ministry added, which would “only contribute to maintaining and promoting France’s position in this essential economic sector”.

Amal Clooney is “a renowned lawyer” who “regularly collaborates with academic institutions and international organisations based in France,” the ministry added.

Approximately 48,800 people acquired French nationality by decree in 2024, according to interior ministry figures.

Clooney is not alone in wanting a French passport: Hollywood director Jim Jarmusch announced on Friday that he was also applying, telling French radio that he wanted “a place to where I can escape the United States”.

Agence-France Press contributed to this report