Donald Trump 'Shocked' at Pal Tucker Carlson's Firing From Fox News: 'He's a Very Good Person'

Donald Trump was caught off guard when he learned that Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News on Monday, April 24.

"Well, I'm shocked, I'm surprised. He's a very good person and a very good man," Trump, 76, told Newsmax host Greg Kelly on the same day. "And very talented, as you know. He had very high ratings."

"That was something. That's a big one," Trump added.

Though it was revealed through text messages that Carlson, 53, "passionately hated" the former president, Trump raved about the TV star.

"But I think Tucker's been terrific," Trump said. "Especially over the last year or so, he's been terrific to me."

As OK! previously reported, Carlson's exit was briefly mentioned in a statement about the news network. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor," Fox said in a statement, noting that his broadcast on Friday, April 21, was his last one.

The businessman and Tucker have been friendly over the years, but the latter's texts were released in March as evidence in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox.

In one text exchange from January 4, 2021, Carlson seemed excited about not covering Trump anymore after he lost the 2020 election.

"We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights," Carlson wrote, per the filing. "I truly can't wait."

"That's the last four years. We're all pretending we've got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it's been is too tough to digest," Carlson wrote in another message. "But come on. There isn't really an upside to Trump."

Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!

He later backtracked everything he said about The Apprentice alum a few weeks later.

"I'm pretty straightforward. I love Trump, like as a person. I think Trump is funny and insightful," he said during a radio appearance on WABC's Bo Snerdley's Rush Hour show.

"And I said this to Trump when he called me, you know, all wounded about those texts. That was a moment in time where I was absolutely infuriated," he recalled.