Donald Trump reportedly said he ‘loves the gays’ for this grim reason
Trump is alleged to habe made the comment prior to his presidency (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump is alleged to habe made the comment prior to his presidency (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
US president Donald Trump, who has enacted a raft of anti-LGBTQ+ measures so far during his second term, allegedly said he “loves gays” for a very grim – albeit entirely on brand – reason.
The quote, cited in a feature published by The New York Times on ‘Donald Trump’s Big Gay Government’ and the gay Republican men at the heart of his administration, was attributed to the businessman-turned-POTUS by an unnamed associate in government.
They allege that when Trump was first gearing up to be a presidential candidate he said on LGBTQ+ policies such as equal marriage: “I love the gays. They pay the most for the weddings.”
Back in 2024, Trump courted controversy with some of his Republican base for allowing a same-sex marriage to take place at this residence-cum-private members club Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
As reported by Newsweek at the time, the wedding was between then-vice chair and treasurer of the Tennessee branch of the Log Cabin Republicans – the LGBTQ+ sect of the GOP – John Sullivan and his husband Dan Medora.
Sullivan told the publication at the time that Mar-a-Lago, which Trump purchased back in 1985, was “one of the most stunning locations in the world” and he praised the staff for being “inclusive since day one”.
Prior to this, in 2022, the Log Cabin Republicans held its Spirit of Lincoln gala in the main ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, with Trump saying in a speech that he is “fighting hard” for the “gay community”.
“With the help of many of the people here tonight in recent years, our movement has taken incredible strides, the strides you’ve made here is incredible,” Trump said at the time, quoted by Politico.
These statements come in stark contrast with the various anti-LGBTQ+ statements Trump made on the campaign trail in the lead up to the 2024 election and the executive orders he signed after returning to the White House.
In the run up to election day, Trump published a vile anti-trans ad, claimed Kamala Harris was funding gender-affirming surgeries for “illegal aliens” in prison and outrageously – and falsely – said schools were secretly transitioning children in classrooms.
Following his re-election, several government websites had LGBTQ+ content and resources purged and Trump signed executive orders specifically targeting the trans community. This included declaring the US will only recognise the two sexes assigned at birth, male and female, banning transgender people from serving in the military, and restricting gender-affirming healthcare for trans people under the age 19.
His administration culled so-called ‘woke’ DEI in the government and military, a move which came amid a wider right-wing backlash to inclusive policies and which has seen big name brands like Walmart, Ford, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniels scrap their programmes.
The Trump administration also froze USAID and which saw cuts to vital HIV initiatives, rollbacks which experts warned could see global infection rates rocket by more than 10 million by 2030 in countries such as the US, France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.
