Tom Cruise Has Worked Hard to Avoid Discussing His Personal Political Views — Is He a Trump Supporter?

After facing a public relations disaster 20 years ago, Tom Cruise was able to become a beloved movie star once again, thanks in part to a careful delineation between his love of movies and his personal life. That delineation was put to the test in 2025 after President Trump invited the actor to be nominated for a Kennedy Center Honor.

Cruise declined to attend, saying that he had a scheduling conflict that would prevent him from being there. Following the news that Cruise was invited and then declined, many wanted to know more about his personal politics. Here's what we know.

Cruise has been incredibly careful to avoid stating what his political opinions are, so we really don't know whether he supports the president or not. There has been speculation following reporting from The Washington Post that Cruise turned down the Kennedy Center because he might not be a Trump supporter, but it seems more likely that Cruise was aware how alienating it would be for him to accept the honor from a president who has been as polarizing as Trump.

It's also possible that Cruise simply turned the honor down because he really did have a scheduling conflict, although that's also a pretty common excuse you might give when you're looking to avoid being somewhere.

In the press, Cruise has been careful to avoid answering questions about politics and has instead insisted on focusing on the movie that he's there to promote.

When asked about President Trump's tariffs during an interview in South Korea, Cruise was direct in saying that he wanted to focus on the movie itself.

"We’d rather answer questions about the movie. Thank you," he said, per The OutKick.

It's clear, then, that Cruise wants his movie stardom to exist in a world devoid of political questions. He's excited to talk about his movie, and he's not interested in talking about anything else.

One reason that Cruise might have wanted to avoid appearing at this year's Kennedy Center is that President Trump isn't just responsible for nominating the celebrities who will receive lifetime achievement awards but is also planning on hosting the ceremony himself. That means that not only would everyone know that you accepted the honor from Trump, but you might also have to appear on stage with him.

And, while some might see Cruise's decision to avoid talking politics as an acknowledgement that he leans one way or the other, in his case, it seems like a genuine desire to avoid talking about anything about the specifics of the movie at hand.

Cruise is an old-school celebrity who came to fame in an era when celebrities didn't spend that much time on politics, and the more he divulged about his personal life, the more it seemed to turn some fans off. Now, he's careful about what he says about politics or anything else, and it's a lesson he learned the hard way.