Robert De Niro Makes Ominous Prediction About Second Donald Trump Term

In an appearance on Friday's episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, actor Robert De Niro issued an ominous warning about a possible second Donald Trump presidency.

"There's nothing redeemable in him. If he wins the election, you won't be on this show anymore, he'll come looking for me," De Niro said after he was asked by Maher why "Trump was winning" in recent polls against President Joe Biden.

De Niro, an Academy Award-winning actor and critic of the former president, continued through the audience's laughter, "There will be things that happen that none of us can imagine. That's what happens in that kind of dictatorship, which is what he says. Let's believe him. Take him for his word."

During a town hall event hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity in December, Hannity pressed Trump to pledge that he would never "abuse power as retribution against anybody," as had been suggested previously, if he's reelected. In response, Trump suggested that he would only behave in such a way on the first day of his hypothetical second term.

"Except for day one," the former president said. "No, no, no, other than day one. We're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I'm not a dictator." His drilling comment was a reference to his vow to expand oil drilling in the United States. He later said that the comments were in a "joking manner." He also told a Fox News town hall in Iowa that "I'm not going to have time for retribution."

In addition, Trump has been criminally indicted in four separate cases, including two related to election inference, one related to stolen classified documents, and one related to hush money payments. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the cases against him are politically motivated.

Despite his legal troubles, Trump leads Biden in most national and battleground state polls heading into November's general election.

On Friday, Maher agreed with De Niro's assertion, "I said from the very beginning that this guy isn't going to concede power. And he still hasn't. He still hasn't admitted he lost the last election and he advertises that he will go on. He says he's been cheated out of one term so maybe he'll get rid of the presidents only get two terms thing?"

On Saturday morning, the former president hit back at the veteran actor.

"Robert DeNiro has a terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Such a stupid sounding guy, a low IQ individual!" he posted on his Truth Social account.

Newsweek reached out to De Niro via email on Saturday afternoon with two questions, "Is Mr. De Niro concerned about third-party candidates taking votes away from Joe Biden in key swing states?" and "Does Mr. De Niro have any plans to campaign for Joe Biden?"

Stan Rosenfield, of Rosenfield Media Group, replied Saturday night and said, "Robert De Niro has responded 'yes' to both questions."

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign Saturday morning via email. This story will be updated with any provided statements.

In Friday's interview with Maher, De Niro also called Trump a "total monster."

"He's such a mean, nasty, hateful person. I'd never play him as an actor, because I can't see any good in him. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing redeemable in him," he said.

The actor added a repeat Trump presidency would be a "nightmare," while a vote for Biden would return America "to normalcy." De Niro received a long round of applause when he said Trump is "a sociopathic, psychopathic, malignant narcissist" and "a dangerous person."

At the end of his nearly four-minute criticism of Trump, De Niro called him a schoolyard bully surrounded by his "bully friends."

"People decide whether they want to oppose him, or they want to let him just tell them what to do and own the schoolyard or the basketball court or whatever it is," the actor said. "He's got to be stopped."

Update: 3/10/24, 12:46 p.m.: This story has been updated with a comment from De Niro.