By Donald Trump has battled celebs as far afield as Arnie to Snoop Dogg since taking the reins at the White House. It’s fair to say the Pres isn’t everyones favourite guy. His love of fancy restaurants, award ceremonies, golf and Twitter; not to mention his substantial bank account, has inevitably meant Trump has had numerous a-list encounters over the years.
Now he’s Commander in Chief, everyone with a ‘I met Trump’ story has come out the woodwork to share their bizarre experience. Here’s my favourite seven:
Daniel Radcliffe
We’ll start with Harr… I mean Daniel Radcliffe who had one of the most surreal Trump experiences imaginable. Radcliffe recalls being astonished by Trump’s “Everest of Confidence” when the two met on the Seth Myers show, all the way when Radcliffe was promoting Harry Potter.
“I was like 11 or 12 and it was when we were doing press for the first Potter movie, and they took us to New York and it was sort of the first time doing any of the morning shows in New York,” he recalled on Late Night with Seth Mayers.
“They walked me over to him and he said, ‘Oh hi, nice to meet you.’ And I said, ‘Nice to meet you.’ He said, ‘How are you?’ I said, ‘I’m quite nervous. I’ve never been on TV before, I don’t know what I’m gonna talk about.’
“And he brilliantly just said, ‘You tell them you just met Mr. Trump.’ To me, that is the Everest of self-confidence. Imagine if I’d just been to you, ‘When you go on that show, just talk about me. Don’t talk about your stuff.”
You can see the hilarious moment below:
Emma Thompson
The Saving Mr. Banks and Love Actually Star had the type of Trump encounter that is likely to deepen his reputation as not being respectful towards woman. Literally one day after Thompson split up with Kenneth Brannagh she received a phone call to from Trump that left her feeling “like a moose had just entered her trailer.”
Trump offered her “some accommodation in one of my Trump Towers – they’re really comfortable.” However Trump wasn’t in the business of handing out free accommodation, he was fishing for a date. He told Thompson, “I think we would get on very well. Maybe we could have dinner some time.”
Thompson admitted “I didn’t know what to do with myself. I just said, okay, well I’ll get back to you… thank you very much for ringing.
Talk about Trump striking while the iron’s hot!
Princess Diana
British broadcaster and TV presenter Selina Scott spilled the beans on how Trump pursued Princess Diana. Trump “bombarded” Princess Diana with flowers and gifts and ultimately gave her the “creeps.”
In an extensive and stinging feature in The Sunday Times, Scott discussed in detail the extent to which Trump hounded Lady Diana. Trump declared that Diana was a “handful” and from Scott’s perspective alongside flowers he also sent the princess “viscous letters”.
When pushed on the subject, Trump’s spokesperson said “they had a special relationship, liked each other a lot, but nothing ever came of it.”
Charlie Sheen
If any man knows what it’s like to be labelled a womaniser and general maverick, it’s Charlie Sheen. Sheen shared a hilarious anecdote about the surreal time Trump gave him fake cufflinks.
“He [Trump] says… “I want to give you an early wedding gift as a gesture from me and Melania -and she doesn’t say a word, she’s very sweet and very pretty but just kinda sits there,” Sheen retold on The Graham Norton Show.
Sheen claimed that Trump gave him a pair of “platinum diamond Harry Winston” cufflinks, and then apologised for not turning up to Sheen’s wedding… even though he wasn’t invited. Weird.
Sacha Baron Cohen
The Bruno and Borat superstar had an early encounter with Trump when he was filming the Ali G show fourteen years ago.
“I was the first person to realise he was a dick,” he told James Corden on his Late Late Show while remembering the memorable skit.
“I was trying to sell something called the Ice Cream Glove. Trump claims that he saw through the interview but he was actually there for about seven minutes…. It’s quite a long time.”
Salma Hayek
Sadly, we’ve saved Trump’s most despicable encounter for the end. The actress claims that Trump attempted to befriend her boyfriend as a way to get Hayek’s phone number.
Hayek states that when she turned him down, The Donald allegedly tried to spread the rumour that he wasn’t interested in her because she’s “too short”. Speaking on the El Show del Mandril on Radio Centro 93, Hayek recalled:
“When I met that man, I had a boyfriend, and he tried to become his friend to get my home telephone number. He got my number and he would call me to invite me out.
“When I told him I wouldn’t go out with him even if I didn’t have a boyfriend [which he took as disrespectful]. Later, Trump called me and left a message. ‘Can you believe this? Who would say this? I don’t want people to say this is about you.’
“He thought that I would try and go out with him so people wouldn’t think that’s why he wouldn’t go out with me.”
Not cool Trump.