If there's one thing we know about President Trump, he always punches back at his critics 10 times harder — and we have first lady Melania Trump to thank for that insight. So it's curious the president waited so long to punch back at actor Robert De Niro, who's been slinging insults at Donald Trump since at least 2011 with nary a tweet about it from the Twitter-obsessed president. Until now. Headed back to Washington from Singapore on Air Force One following what he called "a truly amazing" summit with North Korea, Trump sent out two tweets jeering that the star of Raging Bull had taken too many hits to the head. "Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies. I watched him last night and truly believe he may be “punch-drunk.” I guess he doesn’t... ...realize the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country. Wake up Punchy!," POTUS said in two tweets. This followed De Niro's profane outburst at Trump during the Tony awards Sunday night, which was quickly bleeped by TV censors while many in the audience stood and cheered. Then, at an event on Monday in Toronto, De Niro took it upon himself to apologize to Canadians for Trump's "idiotic behavior" in lobbing insults at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since the G7 summit in Quebec ended in acrimony between Trump and the other member nations. But a review of De Niro's history of deriding Trump — in public, on video, in speeches, in interviews, at press conferences — shows that "idiotic behavior" is the mildest insult De Niro has aimed at Trump over the years. Trump has been relentless in attacking other Hollywood figures who have criticized him. Just ask Rosie O'Donnell, Meryl Streep, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alec Baldwin and a host of others. But not De Niro. So what made POTUS notice this time? Did he consider it especially lèse majesté after concluding what he believes is a successful deal to rein in North Korea's nuclear threat? Did he just grab his smartphone during down time on the long flight home? Or did he just have enough shade from Bobby De Niro? Because the actor, 74, has been searing on the subject of his fellow New Yorker. Only once has Trump responded and it wasn't in a tweet. Here's a chronicle of De Niro's Trump slams: In April 2011, in an interview with Brian Williams at his Tribeca Film Festival, De Niro compared Trump, without naming him, to a "car salesman" who promises a lot but can't back it up. Trump later told Fox & Friends (still his go-to outlet) that he liked De Niro as an actor but he's “not the brightest bulb on the planet....In terms of when I watch him doing interviews and various other things, we’re not dealing with Albert Einstein.” Even then, Trump was using one of his go-to insults: diminishing his critic's intelligence. Once Trump announced he was running for president, De Niro didn't hold back. August 2016: “What he’s been saying is really totally crazy, ridiculous ... he is totally nuts," De Niro said at a film festival in Sarajevo. October 2016: De Niro appeared in a #VoteYourFuture campaign video ad in which he called Trump a series of insults. “He’s a punk, he’s a dog, he’s a pig, he’s a con, a bull---- artist, a mutt who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, doesn’t do his homework, doesn’t care, thinks he’s gaming society, doesn’t pay his taxes,” he said. “He talks (about) how he wants to punch people in the face? Well, I’d like to punch him in the face.” November 2016: After Trump was elected, De Niro described his shock in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I feel like I did after 9/11,” he said. January 2017: De Niro appeared at an anti-Trump rally in New York before the inauguration to read parody Trump tweets. De Niro declared Trump is “a bad example of this country, this city.” February 2017: On The View, De Niro tells the panel he still wants to punch Trump in the face because bullies need to be confronted. "It was only a symbolic thing," De Niro said. "But he’s got to hear it. He’s got to hear that, you know, that’s how he makes people feel. It’s not good to feel that way. It’s not good to start that stuff up, but at the same time sometimes when people are bullies like that, that’s what you have to do to shut them up. Bully them back.” May 2017: In a commencement address at Brown University, De Niro says America has "turned into a tragic dumbass comedy" thanks to Trump. August 2017: In an interview with Deadline, De Niro said if Trump were smart "he’d be even more dangerous. He’s dangerous as it is. He’s terrible, and a flat-out blatant racist and doubling down on that, and it’s good that he does because he’s going to sink himself.” January 2018: At a National Board of Review gala, De Niro went on a profanity-laced tirade against Trump, calling him an "idiot," a "fool," “our baby-in-chief” and “the jerk---in-chief.” He said Trump has “put the press under siege, ridiculing it through trying to discredit it through outrageous attacks and lies.”<doc-sep>Addressing Bruce Springsteen, De Niro said: "Even more important in these perilous times, you rock the vote. Always fighting for, in your own words, truth, transparency and integrity in government. Boy do we need that now."<doc-sep>Celeb obsessed? Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Donald Trump has fired back at Robert De Niro after the Oscar-winning actor took aim at the US president at the Tony Awards over the weekend. Writing on Twitter on Tuesday evening, Trump referred to De Niro as a "very low IQ individual". He went on: "... has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies. I watched him last night and truly believe he may be 'punch-drunk' (sic). "I guess he doesn’t realise the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country. Wake up Punchy!" De Niro, one of the most respected American actors, twice used the so-called F-Bomb against Trump on Sunday, prompting loud applause from the audience of theatre actors, directors and producers at Radio City Music Hall. The Raging Bull actor's remarks were bleeped for more than 6 million Americans watching the awards show on CBS at home. De Niro took the stage to introduce rocker and Tony Awards performer Bruce Springsteen. Without any preamble, he said, "I'm gonna say one thing. F**k Trump." (Image: REUTERS) With the audience of theatre actors, directors and producers shrieking and rising to their feet in applause, De Niro said: "It's no longer down with Trump. It's f**k Trump." He did not elaborate on his comment. Trump was on his way to Singapore to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the Broadway awards show was taking place. (Image: REUTERS) De Niro won an Oscar for playing American boxer Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He returned to the ring in Grudge Match in 2013 and played a boxing trainer in 2016 movie Hands of Stone. De Niro, a noted liberal, has been increasingly critical of Trump, a Republican, at smaller show business events in the past year, but none of them had the profile enjoyed by the Tony Awards.<doc-sep>
Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) President Trump hit back at “Punchy” Robert De Niro on Twitter on Tuesday, two days after the “Raging Bull” star unleashed a torrent of obscenities at the commander-in-chief at the Tony Awards. “Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to [sic] many shots to the head by real boxers in movies. I watched him last night and truly believe he may be ‘punch-drunk,’” Trump tweeted at 4:53 p.m. ”I guess he doesn’t realize the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country. Wake up Punchy!” The “Godfather” star was bleeped at the Tony Awards when he dropped a series of F-bombs about Trump while introducing Bruce Springsteen. “First, I wanna say, ‘F–k Trump,’” De Niro said. “It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump,’ it’s ‘F–k Trump.’” The crowd at New York’s Radio City Music Hall cheered his remarks, though he was later criticized for stooping to Trump’s name-calling level. A day later, De Niro apologized — not to Trump but on America’s behalf to Justin Trudeau, whom Trump insulted as “very dishonest & weak” after the Canadian prime minister threw shade on the president’s trade policies. “I just want to make a note of apology for the idiotic behavior of my president,” De Niro said in Toronto on Monday for the groundbreaking of the Canadian Nobu restaurant, where he was dining with celebrity chef and business partner Nobu Matsuhisa, The Globe and Mail reported. “It’s a disgrace. And I apologize to Justin Trudeau and the other people at the G7. It’s disgusting.” De Niro is a seven-time Academy Award nominee, and won Oscars for playing Vito Corleone in “The Godfather Part II” and Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull.” In 2009, he was among the five recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, presented by then-President Obama.