Dwayne Johnson visits Washington after approach to run for US president

By Ellie Iorizzo, LA Correspondent

Dwayne Johnson visited Capitol Hill to address military recruitment issues after admitting he was approached “out of the blue” by political parties to run for president last year.

The Hollywood star was pictured with the US Capitol Police on Wednesday, as well as having a sit-down with senators including Jon Tester, during his trip to Washington DC.

Mr Tester, who is chairman of the Senate veterans’ affairs committee, wrote on Twitter: “From pickin’ rock on the farm to meeting with the big guy himself.

“I was glad to host @TheRock today to talk about how we can better address military recruitment issues.”

The US Capitol Police also tweeted: “We talked to a potential new recruit today… and we think he will pass the fitness test.”

Johnson spoke about being approached by political parties in 2022 to run for US president on comedian Trevor Noah’s new podcast What Now?, describing the visit as “out of the blue”.

The 51-year-old also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, saying: “It’s crazy, it’s wild. This run for president talk has been in the ether for the past couple of years and it never stops being surreal.

“It was incredible, it came from (Washington) DC. We sat down, the poll was almost 50 per cent of American’s would support me running for president, it was just crazy.”

Johnson admitted “down the road for sure” he would consider running for president.

The former wrestler said that at the moment he is a “proud girl dad” with the youngest of his three children aged five and knows what it is like “to have an occupation that takes me away from being a daddy” which is currently the “most important thing to me”.