Veteran entertainer Pat Boone is offering unusually blunt public counsel to his longtime friend President Donald Trump: be quiet."
The 92-year-old singer and actor, best known to many Americans for his role in the 1959 film Journey to the Center of the Earth, posted both a written statement and a video message to the commander in chief on X late Friday night. According to WND, Boone addressed the president directly, writing: Mr. President, I say this as a friend. For just a little while, try being quiet. You may be surprised how loudly that silence speaks.
Boone stressed that his remarks come from years of personal support and loyalty to the president, not from hostility or political opposition. He noted that he has known and supported President Trump for many years, and I offer these thoughts in the spirit of friendship and concern.
The veteran performer urged a more restrained, Reagan-style approach to leadership, emphasizing the power of composure and dignity in the Oval Office. Sometimes the strongest thing a leader can do is say less, listen more, and let his actions speak for themselves. Im praying for our President, as I hope all Americans will, and Im asking him to remember the example of Ronald Reagan: humor, courtesy, respect, and a presidential manner even in difficult times.
In the video portion of his message, Boone recalled that he had previously warned Trump about the political cost of personal insults and name-calling during debates. I cautioned you that you should not be doing something that makes you sound like a schoolboy on the playground. But if you want to be president, you should sound like a president and be presidential, Boone explained.
Boone suggested that the intense pressures of office may be wearing on the president, and he framed his concerns in explicitly spiritual terms. Right now I feel like youre very tired, and Im worried that many of us havent prayed enough for you because I think youre wearing out and youre feeling the pressure and expressing yourself in ways that are not becoming to you. Theyre not presidential.
He pressed his friend once more to embrace restraint and humility, particularly in how he speaks about his own record and about women. He again personally urged Trump to be quiet, that you quit talking about the things that you want people to be proud of. Let them discover those things for themselves. And also please be polite to women, and quit calling names.
Boone did not spare the national media, offering a pointed suggestion to reporters who relentlessly cover every Trump remark and social-media post. Boone even proffered some advice to the national media covering Trump, indicating: And I would like to suggest that, for the press to try something, to not say anything at all about you for a couple of days. Dont even come to a press conference.
He envisioned an empty briefing room as a kind of object lesson for both the press and the president, a pause that might reset the tone of political discourse. Of course, youre not wanting many of them to be there anyway, so let it be empty. Let there be nobody to ask you any questions, nobody to hear what you want to say or possibly brag about. And then, as you hear nothing the deafening roar of silence it may convince you that being like Ronald Reagan, and using a sense of humor, as well as being very polite and respectful, will get you more hearers, better reporting, and more support while there is still time.
Boone closed his message with the same simple plea with which he began, underscoring that his critique is rooted in loyalty to a president he still backs. I say this as a friend, Boone concluded. Try for just a little while to be quiet.
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