Dr. Jane Goodall Made Her Feelings About Trump Crystal Clear

On October 1, 2025, tragic news hit the scientific community when it was announced that renowned zoologist and environmental activist Dr. Jane Goodall had passed away at the age of 91. Throughout her final years, the beloved conservationist remained an outspoken advocate for Mother Nature, which included Dr. Goodall taking part in some surprising new campaigns. Leading up to the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, she even spearheaded the "Vote for Nature" initiative, in which Dr. Goodall encouraged voters to "choose the candidate who seems to care most about protecting the natural world," (via Instagram). Though she did not explicitly endorse one specific presidential candidate over another, we feel pretty safe in saying that the outspoken environmental activist did not view Donald Trump as a candidate who represented her values. After all, she had made her feelings on him crystal clear in the past. 

During a 2020 interview with CNN, Dr. Goodall was asked which potential U.S. leader would be better equipped to handle environmental issues than Trump. Her response? "Almost anybody." However, the celebrated zoologist declined to speak about him at length. "No, I'm not going to go there because I'm not American," she reasoned, adding, "I'm British. We're in a mess with Brexit." But to be fair to Dr. Goodall, despite the fact that she was indeed a London native, she had major ties to the United States. For instance, her foundation, The Jane Goodall Institute, is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Dr. Goodall also ultimately passed away in Southern California while touring the country to discuss her work and reflect on her career. 

If you know anything about Dr. Jane Goodall, it's almost certainly her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees. During her research, Dr. Goodall discovered that the animals were actually far more like humans than anyone had previously realized. For example, she was the first to witness chimps making and using tools, something that was once considered an exclusively human trait. However, that was far from the only similarity. While speaking to The Atlantic in October 2016, shortly before Donald Trump was elected president for the first time, the passionate animals rights activist couldn't help but point out that he exhibited some pretty ape-like behavior. 

"In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals," Dr. Goodall asserted. "In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks. The more vigorous and imaginative the display, the faster the individual is likely to rise in the hierarchy, and the longer he is likely to maintain that position." She echoed this sentiment while discussing chimpanzee society more generally during a 2024 appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" — without actually mentioning Trump by name. 

"When you see two males competing for dominance, they stand upright, they swagger, they have a furious face, they shake their fist. Doesn't that remind you of some human male politicians?" Dr. Goodall wondered aloud. Elsewhere, she confessed that for all her work with chimps, they're far too similar to humans for her to consider them her favorite animal. Instead, she named dogs as her top pick. And we certainly buy that a little more than Kimberly Guilfoyle trying to paint Trump as a dog lover.