George Clooney<\/a> drew the ire of the White House this week after deeming President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s public rhetoric on Iran a \u201cwar crime.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Trump wrote on<\/a> his Truth Social<\/a> platform early Tuesday that \u201ca whole civilization will die\u201d if no deal between the U.S. and Iran could be reached by that evening. A two-week ceasefire<\/a> between the two nations was agreed upon later that day, though foreign policy experts say<\/a> its specifics are highly questionable<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Clooney, a longtime critic<\/a> of Trump and the GOP at large, condemned the president\u2019s threats while speaking at a Wednesday event for about 3,000 high school students in Italy, organized by the Clooney Foundation for Justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSome say Donald Trump is fine. But if anyone says he wants to end a civilization, that\u2019s a war crime,\u201d he said, per Variety<\/a>. \u201cYou can still support the conservative point of view, but there must be a line of decency, and we must not cross it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It didn\u2019t take long for White House Communications Director Steven Cheung to clap back at Clooney\u2019s remarks. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe only person committing war crimes is George Clooney for his awful movies and terrible acting ability,\u201d he wrote Wednesday on X<\/a>, in response to Variety\u2019s article. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Clooney, a 2005 Oscar winner for \u201cSyriana,\u201d wasn\u2019t deterred, and doubled down on his initial criticisms in a lengthy statement to Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cFamilies are losing their loved ones. Children have been incinerated. The world\u2019s economy is on a knife\u2019s edge,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a time for vigorous debate at the highest levels. Not for infantile name calling. I\u2019ll start. A war crime is alleged \u2018when there is intent to physically destroy a nation,\u2019 as defined by the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He concluded his statement with a bit of self-deprecating humor, adding: \u201cWhat is the administration\u2019s defense? [besides calling me a failed actor which I happily agree with having starred in \u2018Batman and Robin\u2019?]\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The \u201cOcean\u2019s Eleven\u201d actor\u2019s Democratic politics have made him a frequent target of Trump\u2019s social media attacks. After Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney<\/a>, were granted French citizenship<\/a> last year, the president deemed the couple \u201ctwo of the worst political prognosticators of all time.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cClooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social<\/a>. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/69d7b5be1800008e95a1579d.jpg?cache=CPkpuVyCKC&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
<\/picture><\/div>\n