Kory Grow
Contact Kory Grow on X View all posts by Kory Grow August 25, 2026
Dolly Parton, 1977. Paul Natkin/Getty Images President Donald Trump wants flags flown at half-staff for the next week to honor “one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER,” Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Parton’s death “a true loss” for millions.
“There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” Trump wrote. “In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you.”
Throughout her life, Parton declined opportunities to criticize the president. In a 2018 Nightline interview, the singer dodged David Wright’s questions about Trump. “I have a lot of fans out there, and I don’t want to offend anybody,” she said. She told Wright, “I’m not in politics; I’m an entertainer.”
In 2016, she took a similarly down-the-middle approach to politics. “I think no matter if it’s Hillary or Donald Trump, we’re gonna be plagued with PMS either way — presidential mood swings!” she told The New York Times. “But I personally think a woman would do a great job. I think Hillary’s very qualified. So if she gets it, I’ll certainly be behind her.” She also told CNN she thought Trump and Clinton were “both nuts” and called the debates “the greatest show on television.”
In 2021, she told Today that she twice turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor to recognize her philanthropic endeavors like the Imagination Library, her Dollywood Foundation, and a donation to Covid research, when the Trump administration offered it to her for non-political reasons. When the Biden administration offered it to her, she said she was worried how it would be perceived. “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she said.
