Rod Stewart on His Pal Donald Trump: ‘He’s Always Been Extremely Nice to Me’

Musician Rod Stewart doesn’t think Donald Trump is a great president — but he also called the former real estate mogul a “dear friend.”

The 73-year-old musician, asked about his relationship to Trump in a recent interview with The Independent, did not hold back.

“Let me just clear up the situation,” he said. “I’ve known Trump for a long time. I’ve done concerts for him in his casinos. I live probably three-quarters of a mile down the road from him on the beach in Florida. He’s always been extremely nice to me. He’s let my friends use his golf course for nothing, and I’ve had no problems with him at all.”

The “Maggie May” singer continued by saying he doesn’t believe Trump is a “great president,” but he can’t deny that America is doing extremely well.

“Is he a great president? Nah. I think his moral compass is way off. But on the other hand, the country’s doing extremely well, although I believe part of that was down to President Obama — the country was starting to do great anyway, he’s just carrying it on,” he said.

That’s a point of view that plenty of people would take issue with, of course.

“But we’ll see with the midterm elections,” Stewart continued. “It does seem like the walls are closing in on my dear friend. I won’t say dear friend — he’s just a friend.”

Stewart, who was born and raised in London, also gave his opinion on the controversial Brexit vote.

He says he thinks English voters should get another chance to make up their minds.

“If I had my way I would definitely have a second referendum — I think the people have been fooled. I think they’ve been lied to,” he said.

“Is he a great president? Nah. I think his moral compass is way off. But on the other hand, the country’s doing extremely well.”

The singer continued, “I think whether we drop out of the customs union or whatever, I think it all needs to be rescheduled and we should have a new referendum because people are fed up with it. I think there are too many doubts now in everybody’s minds … I agree with the mayor of London, there should be a second referendum. I might be putting my foot in it there but I do live here quite a bit.”

Rod Stewart is one the best-selling musicians of all time. He’s a member of both the U.S. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the U.K. Music Hall of Fame.

Watch Stewart talk about his career in the video below: