Josh Brolin remembered my former friendship with Donald Trump — back when POTUS was a real estate mogul based in New York. Calling him a “genius” at marketing, the Oscar nominee Milk the actor said he knows a “different guy” than the one the GOP leader represents today.
In an extensive interview with Independent promotion Wake Dead: The Mystery of Drawing the KnivesBrolin said he did not base his character, the megalomaniac Monsignor Weeks who leads a local church, on the president.
“I could make something up and say it’s rooted in some kind of Trumpian greed,” he said.
Of his past acquaintance, he said, “I'm not afraid of Trump because even though he says he's here to stay forever, it just won't happen. And if he does, I'll handle that moment. But being Trump's friend before he was president, I know the other guy.”
He continued, discussing the Trump Hotel: “I'm sure there was a lot of corruption there,” he noted, adding that he found the idea of building a high-rise “in the middle of a cesspool city in the late '70s…now it's unlimited power, it's not regulated” “interesting.”
No country for old people The alum concluded: “There's no greater genius than him at marketing – he takes the weaknesses of the general population and fills them. And that's why I think a lot of people feel like they have a mascot. I think it's a lot less about Trump than it is about the general population and their need for validation.”
Brolin openly revealed that he was friends with Trump, whom he first met after filming the Oliver Stone film. Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps in 2010. Bye conversation with journalist Graham Bensinger last year, Weapon The star described that first dinner, which also included Stone, co-star Shia LaBeouf and future first lady Melania Trump, as leading to “the weirdest moment” when the mogul ignored three separate requests from him for a tour of the top floor of his Manhattan apartment.
In subsequent years, during appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2016Brolin emphasized that he “was” Trump's friend, echoing the current sentiment, describing the reality TV star-turned-politician as “single-handedly turning around the economy of Manhattan. I found that very fascinating. I think he's an interesting guy.”
And in 2020 Brolin shared a message on Instagram — in which he described himself as a “conservative Democrat” — railed against Trump ahead of that year’s presidential election, declaring, “I refuse to believe that Donald Trump is our primary version of American manhood.”
