Serena Williams avoided getting into politics in a recent interview with the New York Times, after the former world number one was apparently blindsided by a question about her connection to former President Donald Trump, a revelation that was made during Trump's criminal trial. In New York. last month.
Williams, who announced her plans to retire in September 2022 after a legendary career in which she won 23 Grand Slam titles, appeared on the latest episode of the NYT podcast. “The interview,” which was released on Saturday.
Serena Williams of the United States reacts after beating Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round of the US Open tennis championship, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
He spoke about a wide range of topics, including life after retirement, ahead of a new eight-part documentary airing next month on ESPN+.
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But the conversation turned to Williams' connection to the former President Donald Trump.
The New York Times reported in May that a former aide had testified during his trial that the two “spoke frequently.”
“I mean, is this what this interview is about?” Williams responded with a laugh when co-host David Marchese asked if the two talked. “Actually?”
Then he apparently flipped the script and noted that he had spoken to several presidents. Including the deceased Ronald Reagan.
File – 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, attend the women's singles quarterfinal match between Serena Williams of the United States and Venus Williams of the United States on day nine of the US Open United 2015 at the USTA Billie Jean King National. Tennis Center on September 8, 2015, in the Flushing neighborhood of the borough of Queens in New York City. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
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“I talk to a lot of presidents. I talked to Barack [Obama], I spoke to the Clintons. “I've talked to every president since I've been alive, including Ronald Reagan, I'll let you know.”
Marchese then asked what Williams thought they “were looking for” by having those conversations with her, but Williams refused to indulge.
“I don't know, I'm not going there,” he said, again, laughing.
Serena Williams at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024, in Beverly Hills, California. (Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)
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The conversation returned to Williams, who spoke at length about her. love for tennis, which continues despite her assurances that there is no return on the horizon and how she is coping with retirement and motherhood.
“It's a life I've never experienced,” he said. “You have to understand: my entire life, for as long as I can remember, has been focused on one thing. I don't know anything else. So this is all new to me. It's like a whole new career. And so Of course, I prefer to play tennis, but that's because I've done it all my life.
Williams went on to say that she is happy to “miss” tennis.
“I didn't realize I would have such an incredible relationship with tennis after it was all said and done. It's a good mistake. It's like nostalgia. I love it.”
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