Hulk Hogan and Donald Trump shared a relationship that dates back to the 1980s, when the future president was a Manhattan real estate mogul — who had yet to embark on his reality show turn in The Apprentice — and the blonde grappler had become the preeminent star of the wildly popular World Wrestling Federation.
That long and winding road would see Trump in the White House and Hogan taking one of his last star turns in a rousing, shirt-ripping speech before the Republican National Convention last summer as Trump was officially made the party’s nominee, a week after an assassin nearly killed him at a rally in Butler, Penn.
(Both, by the way, have also been inducted to the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.)
Trump led the tributes to Hogan, who died at age 71 in Florida Thursday, in a post on Truth Social Thursday, calling the late wrestler a “great friend” and recalling his bombastic turn on the stage at last year’s RNC.
“We lost a great friend today, the ‘Hulkster.’ Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart,” Trump posted.
Trump continued: “He gave an absolutely electric speech at the Republican National Convention, that was one of the highlights of the entire week. He entertained fans from all over the World, and the cultural impact he had was massive. To his wife, Sky, and family, we give our warmest best wishes and love. Hulk Hogan will be greatly missed!”
The president wasn’t the only prominent MAGA figure to pay tribute to Hogan, real name Terry Bollea. Top Republicans, from the vice president to members of Congress and other activists weighed in as well.
Writing on X, Vice President JD Vance called Hogan a “great American icon” and said the wrestler had been “one of the first people” he’d “ever truly admired as a kid.”
“The last time I saw him we promised we’d get beers together next time we saw each other. The next time will have to be on the other side, my friend! Rest in peace,” Vance added.
Hogan was perhaps the biggest star in World Wrestling Entertainment history, and served as a major draw to the company’s first WrestleMania event in 1985 and remained a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.
The wresting star, who like Trump rose to public attention in the Reagan era, endorsed his fellow Floridian at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in a bombastic speech that married his longstanding wrestling act with President Donald Trump’s rhetoric.
Taking to the stage to his wrestling theme tune “Real American”, Hogan roared: “Well, let me tell you something brother!!” – one of his biggest catch phrases during his professional career.
As Trump and a capacity crowd at the Fiserv Forum applauded, Hogan removed his blazer and tore off his shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance campaign T-shirt underneath. He cried out: “Let Trumpamania run wild! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America Great Again!”
“What happened last week…when they took a shot at my hero….They tried to kill the greatest president of the United States!” he bellowed, a week after an assassin nearly killed Trump in Butler, Penn.
“Enough was enough!!” Hogan growled.
Hogan and wife, Sky, also sat in the Trump family box with the president during the RNC.
He went on the attack Trump’s opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, a few weeks later at an event to promote his “Real American” beer in Ohio, when he made racially charged comments about the vice president and suggested he could perform wrestling moves on her.
Hogan asked the rowdy crowd: “Do you want me to drop the leg on Kamala…Do you want me to body slam Kamala Harris?”
He then asked the crowd: “Is Kamala a chameleon? Is she Indian?”
Perhaps realizing he had crossed a line, Hogan appeared to blame alcohol for his behavior.
“I’m gonna get heat for that one, brother…that was not me, that was the beers talking,” he said.
Trump’s statement on his longtime friend’s passing came after multiple top figures in the Trump-era Republican Party took to social media to offer messages of condolence and mourning following news of the wrestling star’s death.
His hometown congresswoman, Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, took to X to say it had been an honor to represent the star in Congress.
“RIP to the great Hulk Hogan, who lived right here in FL-13. It was an honor to be your Representative. Gone, but the legend of Hulkamania will run wild forever,” she said.
The next GOP figure in the presidential line of succession, House Speaker Mike Johnson, wrote on Instagram that Americans “all have fond memories” of the late wrestler.
“From my childhood in the ’80s, to campaigning with him last year, I always saw him as a giant in stature and in life. May he rest in peace,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also posted a message of condolence on X consisting of a photo of the iconic star holding an American flag and the letters “RIP.”
Yet another prominent Trump-world figure and a child of the 1980s, the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also mourned Hogan in an X post containing a photo of both men at last year’s Republican convention and the words: “RIP to a legend.”
Blake Marnell, the Trump rally mainstay who is known for the brick wall-patterned suits he wears, similarly posted on X to express grief at Hogan’s passing.
Marnell recalled the last time he’d seen the wrestler, at Trump’s 2024 pre-election rally held at Madison Square Garden.
He added: “RIP, Brother!”
