Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen was subject to a crude remark from Donald Trump which prompted Arsenal legend Ian Wright to dub him a ‘freak’.
After spending over 15 years with both Everton and Manchester United, where he cemented himself as a Premier League and England icon, Rooney crossed the pond in 2018 for a new adventure with MLS outfit D.C. United.
Rooney would return to England to manage Derby County before a US homecoming in 2022, but it was during his original stint that his four sons and wife Coleen met Trump at a Christmas event. Yet, the festivities included a moment which had Coleen’s parents disgusted and Gunners icon Wright far from impressed.
“Well, my dad, he didn’t like what he [Trump] said,” Coleen began, speaking on Stick to Football brought to you by Sky Bet. “So, when I came in, he said to his son, ‘See, I told you all the soccer players get the good-looking girls’. When I’ve come out, I’ve told my mum, she was like ‘Ergh’.”
This prompted Wright, appearing alongside Coleen with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott, and Roy Keane, to call the US President-elect Trump a “freak,” muttering his disgust in the background of the conversation.
“It was my first meeting with him. It was like, ‘Hello, nice…’ and then that was it,” Coleen continued. “We didn’t spend that much time there.
“This was like a Christmas thing at the White House,“ she added. “All the workers and stuff. They did something for the family, like a family day.
“We went with the four kids, but I just remember my kids sitting – there were tables and chairs and everything – and they were eating chicken nuggets on the floor under the table! It was a bit of a strange set-up, but it was an experience.”
Coleen also reflected on the meeting’s aftermath and an interaction she and Rooney’s six-year-old son, Cass, had with one of his teachers.
“My youngest [son], obviously, when Trump’s been voted back in, they watch the news at school – he’s six,” Coleen added. “So, he comes home and says, ‘I told the teacher that I’ve met Trump – she’s told me to send a photo in.’ I’m thinking she doesn’t believe him.
“He emailed the photo in, and she’s like ‘He did mention it!’ – I’m like, ‘Yeah, he was only a baby.’ To which former Lioness Scott replied: “She definitely didn’t believe him, definitely!”
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