“Home Improvement” star Tim Allen is seemingly taking blame for his taking part in Donald Trump‘s entry to politics.
Allen, who has been starring on television since the 1980s, met the now-president when Trump starred on his reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” which ran from 2004 through 2010. The two built a rapport in passing, but what Allen revealed about their relationship has folks sarcastically saying, “Thanks, Tim.”
During a recent appearance on “Club Random with Bill Maher,” Allen revealed that he met Trump “at a dinner with his wife, who was genuinely a wonderful person.”
“And he was more — this was, um, I think the second to last year, the last year of, uh, ‘The Apprentice’ and he was thinking of moving to Los Angeles and being a movie producer and he was talking about movies.”
He claimed that Trump was seriously considering getting into the movie business. “He said this, really, he said, ‘I really like the film business.’ More than that, the guy’s addicted to comedy. He was, so, I was, you know, killing at the table, you know?”
Allen said the former reality star even floated the idea of making one, but shifted focus when he heard about taxes.
“He said, ‘So if we got a studio together, let’s say the movie costs around $1 million.’ And then I said, ‘You gotta double that, at least for the promotion,'” Allen explained. “He goes, ‘What if the ticket sales are slow?’ ‘You lose.’ And he goes, ‘But you gotta make up the loss somehow. How do you make up the loss?’ I said, ‘Well, there’ll be some tax benefit, but you lose the money. That’s how come the studios struggle. They’re looking for winners. You amortize your loss with losers over winners.’ He goes, ‘Oh.’”
The “Toy Story” voice actor added that Trump eventually decided movies were too risky for him. “He, like, completely decided at that moment, I’m not gonna get in this business.”
🚨NEW: Tim Allen recounts his own dinner with TRUMP to Bill Maher🚨
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) January 5, 2026
"I met the dude at a dinner with his wife, who was genuinely a wonderful person … He’s a good listener!"@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/YhvlaEx96e
“He, like, completely decided at that moment, I’m not gonna get in this business. He says, ‘If I buy a bad building, and it won’t sell, I still have the f—-ing building,” Allen told Maher. “If you have a s–tty movie…’ And he says, ‘No, this is not an easy business.’”
Viewers were annoyed by Allen after hearing his revelation, and they did not mince words in the Facebook comments. “I honestly don’t think I would have admitted that….,” noted one commenter. “Thanks a lot, you idiot,” added another.
“F–k you Tim! Oh Home Improvement SUCKS,” replied one user. “Really Tim?!”
One fan noted Trump’s attack on democracy and jokingly blamed the actor for his part in the president’s tiresome presidency.
“So Tim Allen is the one to blame for the destruction of our country. Thanks, Tim. I’m sure that history will treat you kindly,” wrote another.
Spotted at President Trump's third inaugural ball tonight: Tim Allen pic.twitter.com/SpBQwk5yG5
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) January 21, 2017
Allen has never been shy about his friendship with Trump, who invited him to the Inauguration ball and the Veterans Ball. “I went to see the Democrats and Republicans. Yeah, I went to the inauguration,” he said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2017.
“You gotta be real careful around here,” Allen pre-warned host Jimmy Kimmel. “You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody believes. It’s like ’1930s Germany if you’re not part of the group. You know what we believe is right,” Allen continued with finger air quotes.
“Well, I might have a problem with it. I’m a comedian. I like going on both sides. This government does stuff big. I’ve never been to anything like that,” he further explained.
That perspective didn’t end Trump’s curiosity about Hollywood altogether. Despite Allen’s candid breakdown of Hollywood’s financial pitfalls that dissuaded him from pursuing movie projects with Trump early on, the president still found himself orbiting film talk in a different way.
This time, he’s behind the scenes pushing producers to make “Rush Hour 4,” a move that surprised fans of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan and raised questions about why Trump was revisiting his Hollywood ambitions through someone else’s franchise.
Allen met Trump in the 1980s. Around the same time Trump was openly asked about his interest in politics on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1998. He told the host he wouldn’t run for president unless “it got so bad, I wouldn’t want to rule it out totally,” and that he wouldn’t run to lose the presidential race.
