--- title: George Takei Questions Donald Trump on 'Traditional Marriage' description: Takei and Trump took their marriage equality debate to a lunch table canonical: https://time.com/3943826/george-takei-donald-trump-marriage-equality/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-01T20:02:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:41.810Z og:title: George Takei Takes Down Donald Trump's Definition of 'Traditional Marriage' og:description: Takei and Trump took their marriage equality debate to a lunch table og:url: https://time.com/3943826/george-takei-donald-trump-marriage-equality/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfec1cef68f4701ea/69885962196cf4fe53036f28/george-takei.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: George Takei at the 69th Annual Tony Awards in New York City on June 7, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George Takei Takes Down Donald Trump's Definition of 'Traditional Marriage' twitter:description: Takei and Trump took their marriage equality debate to a lunch table twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfec1cef68f4701ea/69885962196cf4fe53036f28/george-takei.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George Takei Takes Down Donald Trump's Definition of 'Traditional Marriage' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b3485764-595f-473c-95cf-e2aa6ddd0ef6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Supreme Court On Marriage Equality [Watch (HLS stream): The Supreme Court On Marriage Equality](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/63b4f7cw.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2015-06-26. The Supreme Court Honors Marriage Equality_ by [Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly Jul 1, 2015 8:02 PM UTC  George Takei at the 69th Annual Tony Awards in New York City on June 7, 2015. George Takei at the 69th Annual Tony Awards in New York City on June 7, 2015. Mark Sagliocco—Getty Images by [Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly Jul 1, 2015 8:02 PM UTC [Donald Trump](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/30/who-should-replace-donald-trump-host-apprentice) likes to say he’s “for traditional marriage”—but [George Takei](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/01/watch-exclusive-teaser-george-takeis-new-web-series-it-takeis-two) thinks there are some holes in Trump’s argument. The _Star Trek_ actor and Trump worked together back in 2011 when Takei appeared on season 5 of _The Celebrity Apprentice,_ and during a press conference for the show, Takei—an LGBT activist—challenged Trump to discuss marriage equality over lunch. And to Takei’s surprise, Trump took him up on the offer. Takei went on [MSNBC’s ](http://on.msnbc.com/1Hv1cUB)[_The Last Word_ ](http://on.msnbc.com/1Hv1cUB)to tell host Lawrence O’Donnell how that lunch went, and apparently, it involved Trump holding onto his opinion—but also recounting recently going to his friends’ gay wedding. “He said, ‘You know what, George, I just came from a gay marriage,’” Takei said. “And he told me, ‘They are good friends of mine, it was a beautiful marriage. They’re wonderful friends.’ And I said, ‘Then why can’t you support marriage equality? You go to weddings of same-sex couples.’ And he said, ‘Well, I’m for traditional marriage.’” Takei said they ultimately “agreed to disagree,” but he thinks Trump’s stance could change: “I think he’s a businessman,” Takei said. “I think he’s capable of saying anything that will be good for business or in whatever situation he should find himself in.” Plus, Takei is suspicious of Trump’s idea of what “traditional marriage” is—especially seeing as Trump has been married three times. “That is not traditional,” Takei said. “And I approve of his three-time marriage, because you want to find the person that you love … I think Donald Trump’s interpretation of marriage is something that he really himself doesn’t really believe in.” Watch the whole interview [here](http://on.msnbc.com/1Hv1cUB). _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/01/donald-trump-george-takei-gay-marriage) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com) ### See the Cast of Star Trek Then and Now  From left: Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock CBS/Getty Images; Paramount  From left: William Shatner and Chris Pine as James T. Kirk Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images; Paramount  From left: DeForest Kelley and Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy CBS/Getty Images; Paramount  From left: James Doohan and Simon Pegg as Scotty CBS/Getty Images; Paramount  From left: Nichelle Nichols and Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura CBS/Getty Images; Paramount  From left: George Takei and John Cho as Hikaru Sulu CBS/Getty Images; Paramount  From left: Walter Koenig and Anton Telchin as Pavel Chekov CBS/Getty Images; Paramount ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:06] Is a [00:11] consequence of the countless small acts of courage [00:16] of [00:18] millions of people. Across decades. [ MUSIC ] [00:32] And [00:43] slowly [ MUSIC ] [00:46] Made an entire country realize that [00:50] love is love. 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