Michael Douglas appeared at a press conference for the Taormina Film Festival, where he is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement award.
The iconic Hollywood star is a longtime activist but he has become increasingly political in recent years and is a staunch opponent of the current administration. He stopped short of mentioning President Donald Trump by name but did send a pretty strong message about America’s actions on the world stage.
“Since this is a film festival and since it’s very difficult to spend five minutes not mentioning ‘the big T,’ I prefer not to get into this,” he began. “I was born at the end of World War II, but in my lifetime, this is the worst time that I can ever remember. There’s much too much conflict in the world.”
When asked about US President Donald Trump at the Taormina Film Festival, Michael Douglas apologized on behalf of the US and said, “I was born at the end of World War II, but in my lifetime, this is the worst time that I can ever remember” pic.twitter.com/dNXH0rjQ4k
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) June 10, 2025
“My country in particular, insisting and demanding other countries increase their military budgets. I have a hard time understanding why, with all the AI and how intelligent we are as human beings, how we can possibly be having as many wars and conflicts as we are. It’s ridiculous.”
During his heartfelt answer, Douglas did not get too specific about the nature of his concerns about the United States. He did hint at the role that he believes that recent foreign policy and domestic decisions have had on the global stage.
Douglas even went so far as to take the blame, on behalf of the US, for some of the world’s biggest problems.
“I realize that my country bears a lot of the responsibility to the chaos that exists in the world. I apologize and I’m embarrassed — to my friends, be it my neighbors in Canada or Mexico, or all the countries in the EU and NATO — I’m embarrassed and I apologize.”
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