Featured Image Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images/Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Donald Trump, Meghan Markle, Politics, Royal Family, US News
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Celebrity, Donald Trump, Meghan Markle, Politics, Royal Family, US News
Meghan Markle once made her feelings about Donald Trump very clear before his first presidency.
It's is now the day of Trump's inauguration (20 January), which will officially see him declared the 47th president of the United States. He first took on the role back in 2017, before Joe Biden beat him out in the 2021 election.
The 'feud' between the Duchess of Sussex and the Republican leader all started back in 2016.
Markle appeared on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore where she called Trump, who will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency, 'divisive' and 'misogynistic'.
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"Trump is divisive, think about female voters alone, right ... I think it was in 2012 the Republican Party lost the female vote by 12 points - that is a huge number, and with as misogynistic as Trump is, and so vocal about it, that's a huge chunk of it," the actress said at the time.
She went on to explain she supported Trump's Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton, not 'because she's a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don't really want that kind of world that he's painting'.
Three years later, in 2019, Trump was asked by The Sun about Markle's comments to which he said: "I didn't know that, no. I didn't know that."
He later added: "I hope she is OK."
"She said she would move to Canada if you got elected. It turned out she moved to Britain," the interview continued, prompting Trump to reply: "There are a lot of people moving here, so what can I say?
"No, I didn't know she was nasty."
Trump was later asked by Piers Morgan, who has taken aim at Markle numerous times, to clarify the 'nasty' remark following his state visit to the UK, which coincided with Markle's maternity leave during her pregnancy with Prince Archie.
Trump responded: "I wasn't referring to her as 'she's nasty' — I said she was nasty about me. And essentially, I didn't know she was nasty about me.
"So, I said, 'But you know what, she's doing a good job, I hope she enjoys her life'."
He went on to say he found Markle 'very nice' and, speaking of Prince Harry he added: "I did. I congratulated him, and I think he's a terrific guy. The royal family is really nice."
Addressing the reports that the Duke of Sussex reportedly tried to avoid him at Buckingham Palace, Trump added: "No, just the opposite.
"In fact, he spent a lot of time talking to Ivanka and talking to my family. I went up, and he couldn't have been nicer. I think he's great."
Then, speaking during the Time100 special in 2020, the year the Sussexes stepped down as senior members of the British royal family, Markle said: "Every four years we are told the same thing, that this is the most important election of our lifetime.
"But this one is. When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard. Your voice is a reminder that you matter, because you do and you deserve to be heard."
While neither Markle or Prince Harry endorsed any candidate by name, Trump reportedly interpreted her comments as an endorsement of Biden.
When asked about her comments during a press briefing at the White House, he said, via the Guardian: "I'm not a fan of hers. And I would say this - and she probably has heard that - but I wish a lot of luck to Harry, because he's going to need it."
And then, in September of that year, Markle was asked at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit what it was like having a 'sitting president' 'take a shot' at her.
"It's about being authentic, and if you look back at anything I've said, it's really interesting because what ends up being inflammatory it seems is people's interpretation of it," she responded.
"But if you listen to anything I actually say, it's not controversial."