--- title: Matthew McConaughey: Let's 'Embrace' President Donald Trump description: Matthew McConaughey's True Detective character describes himself as "a realist" — and McConaughey is calling for the same approach to Trump. canonical: https://time.com/4657703/matthew-mcconaughey-president-trump/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-02T12:48:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:42.970Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Matthew McConaughey Says We Need to 'Embrace' President Trump og:description: The actor said it's time to be constructive og:url: https://time.com/4657703/matthew-mcconaughey-president-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25aa6b5feafbb791/6988b87186f68e99a46e35ef/matthew-mcconaughey-trump-president-embrace.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: matthew mcconaughey trump president embrace og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Matthew McConaughey Says We Need to 'Embrace' President Trump twitter:description: The actor said it's time to be constructive twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25aa6b5feafbb791/6988b87186f68e99a46e35ef/matthew-mcconaughey-trump-president-embrace.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Matthew McConaughey Says We Need to 'Embrace' President Trump  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Feb 2, 2017 12:48 PM UTC  Actor Matthew McConaughey attends the World Premiere of "Gold" on January 17, 2017 in New York City. Actor Matthew McConaughey attends the World Premiere of "Gold" on January 17, 2017 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Feb 2, 2017 12:48 PM UTC Matthew McConaughey’s [_True Detective_](http://time.com/38081/true-detective-hbo-drama-emmy/)character, [Rust](http://time.com/4380220/matthew-mcconaughey-true-detective-season-3/), describes himself as “a realist” — and [McConaughey](http://time.com/4648512/matthew-mcconaughey-on-kimmel/) is [calling for the same approach](http://people.com/movies/matthew-mcconaughey-donald-trump/) to President Donald Trump. During [an interview](http://www.vulture.com/2017/02/matthew-mcconaughey-says-we-should-embrace-donald-trump.html) on BBC One, Andrew Marr asked about whether it’s time for Hollywood or cultural elite to give Trump “a break.” McConaughey, the star of _Gold_, departed from the oppositional views many other actors or celebrities have taken to Trump. “Well, they don’t have a choice now,” McConaughey told Marr. “He’s our president. And it’s very dynamic and as divisive of an inauguration and time as we’ve had. At the same time, it’s time for us to embrace and shake hands with this fact and be constructive with him over the next four years.” McConaughey emphasized the need to be constructive with the new administration, but added, “We’ll see what he does compared to what he’s said.” It’s unclear when McConaughey filmed the interview, which aired on BBC One Sunday in the U.K., before Trump signed an executive action limiting immigration. McConaughey’s wife, Camila Alves, [is from Brazil](http://people.com/movies/matthew-mcconaughey-donald-trump/). \[[_People_](http://people.com/movies/matthew-mcconaughey-donald-trump/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4657703/matthew-mcconaughey-president-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4657703/matthew-mcconaughey-president-trump/"},"headline":"Matthew McConaughey Says We Need to 'Embrace' President Trump","datePublished":"2017-02-02T12:48:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:42.970Z","description":"The actor said it's time to be constructive","url":"https://time.com/4657703/matthew-mcconaughey-president-trump/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25aa6b5feafbb791/6988b87186f68e99a46e35ef/matthew-mcconaughey-trump-president-embrace.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25aa6b5feafbb791/6988b87186f68e99a46e35ef/matthew-mcconaughey-trump-president-embrace.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"matthew mcconaughey trump president embrace","caption":"matthew mcconaughey trump president embrace","creditText":"Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4657703/matthew-mcconaughey-president-trump/","name":"Matthew McConaughey Says We Need to 'Embrace' President Trump"}}]}] ```