Rick Harrison of ‘Pawn Stars’ Got a Surprise Call from Trump – First Words from 47 Show His True Colors

“Pawn Stars” patriarch Rick Harrison said President Donald Trump is a stand-up guy who he’s proud to call a friend.

To spotlight that Trump is a softie with his pals, Harrison said the president apologized profusely to him once — something he rarely does — after one of his Secret Servicemen committed a backstage blunder at a 2018 Nevada campaign event.

As a reminder, the brash billionaire is notorious for his uncompromising reluctance to apologize. But things are different when it comes to his friends.

“So this is in 2018, he’s having a rally here in town for … someone running for Congress and Senate. And they wanted me to announce him at the rally,” Harrison said on the Monday episode of the podcast “In Depth With Graham Bensinger.”

“So I show up with my son, Jake, and my daughter, Serena,” Harrison recounted. “White House staff [goes], ‘Hey Rick, how’s it going? Come on, come this way.’ And we go to backstage, and the Secret Service goes, ‘He’s not on the list.’”

He continued: “And they’re going like, ‘But it’s Rick Harrison.’ And his friend’s like, ‘Not on the list. Doesn’t matter.’ And I’m literally trying to call a U.S. senator, some other people, some congressman. I can’t get a hold of anybody.”

“Secret Service throws me into the public, and I am getting mobbed. And we had to leave. We could not stay there … I’m so pissed off,” Harrison recalled.

As he was driving back home, the reality TV star got a call from then-Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, who said, “‘Rick, before you say a word, the president of the United States would like to talk to you.’”

Harrison recalled: “And the first words out of Trump’s mouth were, ‘Rick, I am really sorry. This is all my fault because my White House staff, they work for me. They screwed up. That makes it my fault. I’m sorry.’

Trump continued: “‘They should have informed the Secret Service. So, I’m sorry, will you please come back down to the convention center? We’ll try and make this happen.’”

“You’re not going to tell the president of the United States ‘no,’” Harrison said.

A very cool story between Rick Harrison @GoldSilverPawn and @POTUS. The time President Trump called Rick and apologized. pic.twitter.com/I67Cs1ydrR

— 🇺🇸𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓭🇺🇸𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷🇺🇸 (@Texas_jeep__guy) March 23, 2025

Harrison said as he doubled-back to the campaign rally, he was barraged with calls from Secret Service officials, saying they’d provide a multi-car, VIP escort for him back to the convention center.

The longtime TV star joked that the incident made a huge impression on his young son because it made him seem like a big shot.

Harrison rose to fame on “Pawn Stars,” a hit reality TV show that debuted in 2009 and aired for 23 seasons.

Harrison is an OG (“Original Gangster”) Trump supporter, who endorsed him back in 2016, when being a MAGA loyalist could get you canceled, fired, and attacked as a racist.

Rick Harrison just endorsed Trump #PawnStars pic.twitter.com/5F33z0xEpi

— Top Tier (@TopTierState) October 30, 2016

Over the years, Harrison has repeatedly praised Trump’s leadership, especially when it comes to illegal immigration.

Last year, his son, Adam Harrison, died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 39.

At the time, Harrison blamed then-President Joe Biden for enabling the fentanyl epidemic, which he said led to his son’s tragic death.

“The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously,” Harrison said in 2024. “It seems it is just flowing over the borders and nothing is being done about it. We must do better.”

We are now two months into Trump‘s second term. Hopefully, the president will remained focused on his promise to make America great again by stemming the scourge of illegal immigration.

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