President Donald Trump took a jab at Hollywood icon Tom Cruise’s height during a rambling speech at the McDonald’s Impact Summit in Washington on Monday.
The 79-year-old president’s remarks touched on McDonald’s business success, the 2024 campaign, Trump’s perceived enemies, the White House’s tariff policy, the Gulf of Mexico, cane sugar, and China—all in the first 20 minutes—before pivoting suddenly from affordability and the price of eggs to his June attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump said that when he invited the pilots who flew the B-2 bombers that dropped massive bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s enrichment facilities, he discovered they were “all handsome” like Cruise, but with one exception.
“They looked like Tom Cruise. They really do,” he said. “I don’t want to be a wise guy and say ‘But taller.’ I’m not gonna say that. No.”
The pilots were “perfect specimens,” he added.
“I mean, these guys are like from a movie,” he said. “I could take every one of them and put them in a movie.”
The aging president failed to mention that at least one of the pilots was a woman who probably did not look like Tom Cruise, only taller.
In any case, the Internet Movie Database lists Cruise’s height as just under 5 feet 8 inches.
The White House has stated that Trump is 6 feet 3 inches, despite the fact that he was noticeably shorter than Prince William, who is also 6 foot 3, during a state visit to the U.K. in September.
Monday was not the first time Trump has referenced Cruise’s appearance when praising the U.S. military.
In 2019, during a rally in Michigan, Trump invoked the 63-year-old action star while discussing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
“We have the F-35s—it’s stealth—and I was at one of the areas where they’re displaying it,” Trump said. “I went up to the pilots and, honestly, they’re better-looking than Tom Cruise.”
Cruise reportedly turned down an invitation to be part of the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees next month due to “scheduling conflicts.”
