Jake Paul spoke during a Donald Trump campaign rally in Kentucky. Image: keystone
The influencer was invited by the US President to give a speech during a campaign event – and received great praise from him.
March 12, 2026, 1:31 p.mMar 12, 2026, 1:51 p.m
With his past as a YouTuber and Disney Channel star, today’s boxer Jake Paul wasn’t taken particularly seriously by many. His support of the MAGA movement did not earn him any additional sympathy. But now Donald Trump has come out as a particularly big fan of the 29-year-old.
Jake Paul’s appearance in the video:
Video: watson/hanna dedial
The US President invited his “friend,” as he calls him, on stage during a campaign event in Kentucky. When the influencer was announced, he made no secret about what he thought of him:
«I’m going to make a prediction now. In the near future, Jake, you will be running for political office. And you have my full support for that.”
In addition to his enthusiasm for Paul, Trump also made allusions to his fiancée Jutta Leerdam in his speech. Leerdam is a Dutch speed skater who won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Trump said: “Jake has a brand new, beautiful fiancée. And I know that you can no longer use the word ‘beautiful’ when describing women.” But he doesn’t care: “What’s this nonsense? She is beautiful. She just won an Olympic gold medal.”
Jetta Leerdam won gold at the Winter Olympics.Image: keystone
“You have the swag for it”
Paul then said just as enthusiastically about the US President in his speech: “Mr. Trump taught me to be courageous and to never back down from a fight, even if the opponent is much, much bigger than you.” He then encouraged those watching to also fight “this fight” and assured them that they had the “swag” to do it. In youth language, swag refers to a casual, cool or self-confident charisma. He ended his speech with the words:
“God is behind us and Donald Trump is behind us. God bless you, I love you, Kentucky.”
But Paul didn’t seem completely relaxed. The prominent sweat stains on Paul’s blazer during his speech suggest that he was either very nervous about speaking to Kentuckians or had just returned from a wrestling match.
Jake Paul noticeably sweats during his speech.Image: screenshot/instagram
After his speech, Jake Paul posted a video of himself and the US President on his TikTok channel. There you can see the two dancing to a famous sound.
Intertitles
It wasn’t the first time that Jake Paul and Donald Trump got involved in politics with each other. As early as 2024, the influencer posted a video where he made public his support for the then presidential candidate. Paul was also present at Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 and expressed his positive attitude there. The YouTuber has since defended Trump on social media several times, praised him or commented positively on his politics.
Despite all the love for Trump, Jake Paul no longer lives in the USA. So Paul moved to Puerto Rico in 2021. How “Independent” writes, the reason for this is probably the tax system there, which offers wealthy immigrants significant tax breaks. Still, Paul took a shot at Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny in February when he performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Paul accused the artist on social media of taking a political stance against the USA. During the Super Bowl, Paul wrote on X that he would turn off the show to show that you had power as a viewer. He further said:
“Turn off this halftime show. Here comes a fake American who publicly hates America. I can’t support that.”
His comments sparked strong backlash. Critics called him a hypocrite because he himself benefits from Puerto Rico’s economic advantages, while Bad Bunny comes from there and speaks out on political and social issues on the island. After the strong reactions, Paul backed down and published a statement on
Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl.Image: keystone
House parties during Corona and ripping off children
Jake Paul has been a controversial figure for years. He uploaded his first videos to the social media platform Vine in the mid-2010s. After Vine was discontinued in 2017, he moved to YouTube and built a huge reach there with vlogs and prank videos. To date, the influencer has over 50 million followers across various platforms.
In addition to his YouTube career, Paul also appeared in the Disney Channel series “Bizaardvark”, which gave him additional fame. However, after several scandals, dangerous stunts and loud parties that affected his entire neighborhood, he was fired from Disney. The scandals included, among other things: a huge house party during the corona pandemic, a scam website where he ripped off small children, and various diss tracks against “low-earning” people.
Jake Paul suffered against former world champion Anthony Joshua.Image: keystone
On top of all that, there were always investigations or controversies surrounding his environment, including a search of his home by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with an investigation into looting during the George Floyd protests. Since 2020, Jake Paul has changed his image into a professional boxer. Since then, he has regularly competed in boxing matches against other influencers, former MMA fighters and professionals and uses his social media reach to market these events.