Hines, who’s married to RFK Jr., also recently criticized “The View” cohosts for grilling her over her marriage.

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Donald Trump.Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Andrew Harnik/Getty

Cheryl Hines continued her press tour for new book Unscripted, and recalled meeting Donald Trump.
Hines said that Trump was “warm” and “genuine.”
“He’s more interested in people than I expected,” the Curb Your Enthusiasm star remembered.

Actress Cheryl Hines has gone against the Hollywood grain to praise Donald Trump’s demeanor.

The president, who has largely received public backlash from many of Hines’ peers in the entertainment industry, defied the Curb Your Enthusiasm star’s personal expectations, she revealed in a new interview on Billy Bush’s Hot Mics talk show.

Bush spoke to the Unscripted author about a portion of the book that reflected on the day her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was set to meet with Trump regarding a position in the administration, which eventually led to his controversial installment as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“You go into this meeting, and this is where you meet Donald Trump for the first time?” Bush asked.

Hines replied, confirming that it was the first time she’d ever met Trump, and called it “interesting because I hadn’t seen the bandage on his ear” as a result of the July 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pa.

The actress also labeled it “profound,” because “you see how close it was to his temple. You see how close the bullet came to killing him.”

She then struggled over her words to describe Trump’s demeanor, with Bush encouraging her by telling her, “F— ’em” with regard to thinking about how her comments might be perceived.

“He was warm, he was genuine. We shook hands, he will talk about everything, and I was just saying he’s more interested in people than I expected,” Hines said. “I guess I was expecting a one-man show, sort of. And he wasn’t like that at all.”

She later maintained that her husband’s goal is to “bring people together” — a sentiment she echoed in August 2024 when her husband dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump.

“Over the last year and a half, I have met some extraordinary people from all parties — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. It’s been my experience that the vast majority of all parties are truly good people who want the best for our country and for each other,” Hines shared in a statement at the time. “It has been an eye-opening, transformative, and endearing journey.”

Recently, the star has traveled the press circuit on both sides of the political aisle to promote her new book, including stops on Hot Mics, divisive conservative commentator Meghan McCain’s web series, and The View.

In her interview with Bush, Hines criticized the questioning in The View interview, which got so tense with criticism for RFK Jr. at one point that Hines had to ask if she could finish a thought while cohost Sunny Hostin spoke.

“They just wanted to grill me about Bobby,” Hines said, later observing, “I don’t think the ladies on The View asked me one question about my book. But, you know, that’s okay.”

Watch Hines discuss meeting Trump on Hot Mics above.