George Clooney, who has long been one of Hollywood’s most outspoken critics of Donald Trump, has slammed the U.S. president for threatening to erase “a whole civilisation” unless Iran agreed to his terms for a ceasefire deal that was subsequently reached.
“Some say Donald Trump is fine. But if anyone says he wants to end a civilisation, that’s a war crime,” Clooney said on Wednesday in Cuneo, Italy, according to Italian news agency ANSA. The actor was speaking in front of 3,000 high school students at a special event organized by the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
“You can still support the conservative point of view, but there must be a line of decency, and we must not cross it,” he added.
Speaking more broadly about current U.S. foreign policy, Clooney expressed concern about Trump’s recent statements that he is considering pulling out of NATO after European member countries of the trans-Atlantic alliance refused to be pulled into the Iran war.
“I’m worried about NATO,” Clooney said. “It has ensured that Europe, but also the rest of the world, has been safe. Dismantling an institution like this worries me. Aside from many mistakes, I believe the U.S. [with NATO] has also done many extraordinary things that have stood the test of time.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is expected to meet with the U.S. president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to try to smooth over their differences.
ANSA reported that Clooney — who frequently spends time in Italy, where he owns a villa on Lake Como — first addressed the students in Italian by saying “Buongiorno!” before apologizing for his imperfect Italian and reverting to English. But he warned the students in both languages that he understands Italian. “So watch what you say!” he joked.
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The Clooney Foundation for Justice, the human rights campaign group established by George and Amal Clooney, was founded in 2016 and currently works in 40 countries.
From Variety US