Ethan Hawke’s Barb at Trump: History is Full of Selfish and Greedy People
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Ethan Hawke reacted to the Donald Trump administration’s invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro this week. On the red carpet of the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Saturday night, January 3, 2026, the Blue Moon star told Variety that he still finds the invasion hard to believe.
Hawke, who has previously interviewed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, expressed his disbelief: “I was upset about [the renaming of] the Kennedy Center, and now we are bombing [Venezuela].” Making an indirect reference to Trump, he added, “I’ve done enough Shakespeare to know that power corrupts… history is full of selfish and greedy people.”
The actor continued: “The great advantage of acting is that you get to play in historical films. Every era of history is strange. My mother calls it the mysterious force of good versus the mysterious force of evil. It’s a constant interaction. This is why I believe in cinema—in the collective consciousness. It’s like Thanksgiving; you can either have a very stupid argument or a helpful and healthy one. The artist community starts the discussion.”
At the same event, Amanda Seyfried commented on the region’s political developments: “We cannot connect with one another if we feel unsafe. And today, we feel unsafe.”
Hawke joins a growing list of Hollywood figures who have condemned the U.S. attack on Venezuela, including Mark Ruffalo—who compared Trump to Adolf Hitler—as well as Jon Cryer and Stephen King.
