--- ---  # Donald Trump Always Had Plenty to Say About the Oscars Before He Was President by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Feb 24, 2017 4:49 PM UTC  President Donald Trump stands during a news conference at the White House on Feb. 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference at the White House on Feb. 16, 2017 in Washington, DC.Mario Tama—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Feb 24, 2017 4:49 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4681802/donald-trump-cpac-speech-media/) will likely not tune in to watch the [Academy Awards](http://time.com/4673701/oscars-2017-what-to-know/) on Sunday after years of publicly criticizing the star-studded event as “boring” and a “sad joke.” Trump will be busy hosting the White House Governors’ Ball that night, White House Press Secretary [Sean Spicer](http://time.com/4673483/spicer-name-generator/) told reporters Wednesday while also briefly mentioning how liberal celebrities have been. “I think Hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions, and I’ve got to be honest with you, I think the president will be hosting the governors’ ball that night,” Spicer said. Trump has been tweeting and speaking out against the Oscars from as far back as 2012\. He has slammed actors, movies and the award show’s presentation. Watch the video above. Donald Trump Oscars: What He Has Said About Academy Awards ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4681967/donald-trump-oscars-academy-awards/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4681967/donald-trump-oscars-academy-awards/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Always Had Plenty to Say About the Oscars Before He Was President","datePublished":"2017-02-24T16:49:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:30:43.246Z","description":"Trump has been criticizing the Oscars for years","url":"https://time.com/4681967/donald-trump-oscars-academy-awards/","keywords":["Donald Trump","movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcd30d446d515e38/6988bbcf8fd2ee4944355e8d/donald-trump-oscars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcd30d446d515e38/6988bbcf8fd2ee4944355e8d/donald-trump-oscars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Holds News Conference In East Room Of White House","caption":"President Donald Trump stands during a news conference at the White House on Feb. 16, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Mario Tama—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/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4681967/donald-trump-oscars-academy-awards/","name":"Donald Trump Always Had Plenty to Say About the Oscars Before He Was President"}}]}] ```