EXCLUSIVEDonald Trump 'Should Be Ashamed of Himself!': Tiger King's Joe Exotic Reveals Dire Prison Conditions as He Describes It as a 'Third World Country'

Joe Exotic blasted Donald Trump in an exclusive interview with OK! about his Kentucky prison conditions.
July 18 2026, Published 11:42 a.m. ET
Tiger King star Joe Exotic has a bone to pick with Donald Trump.
The Netflix star, 63, exclusively told OK! all about his housing conditions after he was moved to a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday, July 17.

Joe Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2019.
"I am in Kentucky and I have access to the computer and phone," Exotic said before slamming the POTUS, 80, for the seemingly harsh prison environment.
"The staff are great, however, President Trump should be ashamed of himself to be the leader of the richest and most powerful country in the world, and he has a prison and justice system that looks like this."
Joe Exotic Claimed His Prison Has No Air Conditioning

Joe Exotic previously asked Donald Trump for clemency.
"This prison has NO air conditioning at all, and it's 90-plus degrees in here. Old people are sick and in wheelchairs — sweating their a---- off and the place is crazy run-down," the reality star fumed.
"You would expect this in a third world country, not in America in what they call 'Club Fed.' If they can't afford to take care of the system, why are they hellbent on filling it up? The billions wasted on taking care of other countries and not on its own system," Exotic scoffed.
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Joe Exotic Was Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison in 2019

The reality star also slammed Donald Trump in a letter last month.
"Club Fed" refers to minimum-security federal prisons, and stems from the belief the facilities have fairly lenient housing conditions, and contain nonviolent, white-collar criminals.
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2019 after he was convicted of animal abuse, and an attempted murder-for-hire plot to kill Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin.
The media personality is currently scheduled to be released from jail in 2036.
Joe Exotic Pleaded for Donald Trump to Get Him Out of Jail

Joe Exotic was convicted for an attempted murder-for-hire plot to kill Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin.
Last month, Exotic sent a letter to OK! from solitary confinement at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, where he claimed he was put in isolation after he tried to get Trump's attention.
"Not only have I been trying to get Trump's attention for the last eight years, but now I have lost the ability to get the White House's eyes on my social media," he penned.
"Since I've been in the SHU [Special Housing Unit] now for 58 days — all because a prison guard of 26 years wrote President Trump a letter asking him to sign my clemency or grant me a pardon," Exotic added. "The prison fired him and put me in SHU, trying to send me to another prison."
Exotic pleaded: "I've been exploited for eight years for everyone to make money using my face and name. And I get nothing but more bulls--- drama. Please President Trump, let me go home."


