Sacha Baron Cohen Calls Trump's Rise 'Elements of Brilliance,' Not Fool's Luck

Sacha Baron Cohen has revived Ali G 20 years after retiring the character — and on his press tour he's offered a surprising assessment of Donald Trump: the president has "elements of brilliance."

The comedian returned to the tracksuit for "Ali G: Who Iz I?," now playing in theaters before arriving on Amazon Prime on Oct. 30. The show's original run, "Da Ali G Show," made his name at the turn of the century by putting him in a room with some of the world's most powerful people, who often made fools of themselves on camera.

Speaking Wednesday night at a live taping of Josh Horowitz's "Happy Sad Confused" podcast at New York's 92nd Street Y, Baron Cohen revisited his 2003 interview with Trump — back when Trump was best known as a New York real estate mogul, years before NBC's "The Apprentice."

What happened at Trump Tower?

Baron Cohen recalled arriving at Trump Tower with director James Bobin and feeling "intimidated." They waited in a room while Trump shouted expletives "not for the likes of delicate Jewish ears" at Rudy Giuliani over the phone.

"As Ali G, I had the privilege of sitting with some of the smartest and most powerful people in the world, and all of them were punctual," Baron Cohen told Horowitz. Then, after a lengthy pause, he identified the exception: "Donald Trump kept us waiting for about 40 minutes."

Baron Cohen later learned the phone routine wasn't unique. "Later on, I heard that he used to do that with other people," he said. "It really was a power move."

Trump initially warmed to Bobin, whom Baron Cohen described as a "very handsome, blond, Oxford-educated" Englishman. When Trump realized his actual interview partner was Ali G, his demeanor changed "immediately." A woman who was in the car with Trump afterward told Baron Cohen the mogul was furious.

"He actually went out publicly a couple of times to criticize me," Baron Cohen said. "And in the end, we used all those clips and used them to advertise another show that I did."

Why does Baron Cohen credit Trump with brilliance?

Looking back, Baron Cohen said he can understand how Trump won a second term in the White House.

"I mean, how has he survived a second term? People underestimated him," Baron Cohen said. "We were too easy to dismiss him as a nincompoop. There are elements of brilliance to him, otherwise. And that explains his appeal with the fact that he's there for the second term, the fact that he's transforming this country. I won't say positively or negatively."

The comment wasn't a one-off. On the Pivot podcast with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, Baron Cohen called Trump "amusing" and said there's "a huge amount of comedy in the way he speaks."

"He's intentionally being funny," Baron Cohen explained. "And if you have a look on the far right, they use comedy and sarcasm as an engaging way to dismiss criticisms."

That observation connects to the through-line of Baron Cohen's own work. His characters thrive on ambiguity, and he suggested Trump's popularity reflects a similar truth: "In the black and white, the world is a little bit complicated."

The remarks land as Baron Cohen re-enters the spotlight with a character built on exposing powerful people's blind spots — and with a Prime Video release on Oct. 30 giving the revival its widest audience yet.