Rod Stewart says he’s no longer friends with former neighbour Donald Trump over support of Israel
Rod Stewart isn’t “a great fan” of his former neighbour Donald Trump over the US President’s continued funding and support of Israel.
Speaking to the Radio Times ahead of his Legends slot at Glastonbury next week, Stewart revealed that he used to be close with Trump, not just in terms of friendship, but in proximity.
“I’m not a great fan of Trump. I knew him very, very well. I used to go to his house. I live literally half a mile away,” said Stewart, who owns a home in Florida. “We’re both on the beach. I used to go to his Christmas parties. He’s always been a bit of a man’s man. I liked him for that. But he didn’t, as far as I’m concerned, treat women very well.”
Stewart continued, suggesting that Trump’s presidencies have changed him, “Since he became President, he became another guy. Somebody I didn’t know.”
When asked if would ever reconsider his stance on severing his friendship with Trump, the musician said the President’s role in the ongoing genocide in Gaza makes a potential reconnection difficult: “No, I can’t anymore. As long as he’s selling arms to the Israelis — and he still is. How’s that war ever gonna stop?”
Stewart went on to say it isn’t just the US that needs to stop supporting Israel: “And we [the UK] should stop selling them as well… What [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is doing to the Palestinians is exactly what happened to the Jews. It’s annihilation, and that’s all he wants to do — get rid of them all. I don’t know how they sleep at night.”
Elsewhere during his chat with Radio Times, Rod Stewart commented on his upcoming Legends slot performance at Glastonbury, explaining that organisers had initially given him a shorter set – a decision he subsequently challenged.
“It’s difficult because they only gave me an hour-and-a-quarter slot. So I begged them: can I do another 15 minutes? Because usually I play for two hours,” Stewart told the publication. “It means that there’s a lot of songs that people love that I won’t be able to play – and I’ve got three guests coming on,” said Stewart. Fans have been concerned about whether Stewart will make it to Glastonbury 2025, after he cancelled a run of shows in Las Vegas recently. In an update on June 7, the singer said he was recovering from a bout of flu.
In other news, the weather forecast for this year’s Glastonbury has now come into range. Elsewhere, organisers have shared the full line-up, times and stage splits, and the newly updated site map.
Glastonbury 2025 will be headlined by The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo. Visit here for all NME‘s latest coverage.
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Surej Singh
NME
