Country music legend Dolly Parton died at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 25, after a “brief battle” with cancer. She was 80. Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced the death in a video posted on her Instagram.Donald Trump paid tribute to the I Will Always Love You singer-songwriter via Truth Social. He wrote:“Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one-week period beginning tonight at 6:00 PM. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”While Donald Trump has praised Dolly Parton over the decades, she has largely kept her politics private. However, the country star did reveal that she turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice from the Trump administration, once because her husband Carl Dean was “ill” and later because of the COVID-19 pandemic.In March 2016, Dolly Parton responded to her friend Kenny Rogers’ statement that she had become the “Donald Trump of country music,” referring to her colorful personality. In a Rolling Stone interview, Parton compared her hair to Trump’s and said that they were both outspoken.“Me and Donald kind of have the same hair. [Kenny] could have meant that too… and he does talk about the fact that I’ll just say whatever’s on my mind,” the ‘Queen of Country’ quipped.According to BuzzFeed News, Parton reportedly sent a televised birthday wish to Trump in 1990, when he was a real estate magnate and hadn't entered politics yet. However, they never met in person.Exploring the history between Dolly Parton and Donald TrumpIn a February 2021 interview with TODAY, Dolly Parton said that Donald Trump tried to give her the nation’s highest civilian honor twice when he was the president, the first time.“I couldn't accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn't travel because of COVID. Now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure,” she explained while saying the Biden administration had reached out as well.Parton continued:“But I don't work for those awards. It'd be nice, but I'm not sure that I even deserve it. But it's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”It is noteworthy that she also turned down Joe Biden and ultimately never received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.In the fall of 2020, comedian and late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert asked Barack Obama how Dolly Parton didn’t have the medal, to which the former POTUS replied:“That's a mistake. I'm shocked. Actually, that was a screwup; I'm surprised. I think I assumed that she'd already got one and that was incorrect. I'm surprised; she deserves one.”Obama also added that he planned to make a call to Biden.According to a past poll by the University of Massachusetts, Parton was the only celebrity to have got fifty percent favorable ratings from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike.Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Dolly Parton told Brooke Baldwin in a CNN interview that the race to the White House between Trump and Hillary Clinton was the “greatest show on television right now,” without endorsing either candidate. She continued to joke:“We’re doing good. We got a woman that could go in the White House, so we’ve certainly come a long way in that respect. I don't know where they're going to land, but I think they're both nuts; it's like watching the OJ Simpson trial. You just believe whoever's up next. Whoever testified last is who you believe.”Before that, Parton said in another interview that a woman would do a “great job” as the POTUS and that Clinton was qualified. When people perceived her remarks as an endorsement of the Democrat, Dolly took to Facebook and clarified her words were “taken out of context.”“I try not to get political, but if I am, I might as well just run myself 'cause I've got the hair for it, it's huge, and they could always use more b**bs in the race. But seriously, I have not decided who I'm voting for, but no matter what we're gonna be suffering from PMS, Presidential Mood Swings,” the ‘Jolene’ artist joked.In a 2019 episode of her podcast Dolly Parton’s America, the philanthropist went on record to say she doesn’t “do politics” as she has fans on both sides of the political aisle.Her longtime friends and 9 to 5 co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin criticized Donald Trump at the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards and described him as a “s*xist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.” Dolly Parton, who had reunited with them onstage, didn’t join in the criticism.Years later, the Islands in the Stream songstress said that he continues to refuse to be “dragged into” politics, but she wasn’t surprised by her friends’ remarks as they both are political.“I just did not want everybody to think that whatever they think is what I think. I don't really like getting up on TV and saying political things. I don't even want to make a deal out of it, but I want people to know I'm my own individual self,” Parton explained.She further mentioned:“I've seen things before, like the Dixie Chicks. You can ruin a career for speaking out. I respect my audience too much for that; I respect myself too much for that. Of course I have my own opinions, but that don't mean I got to throw them out there, because you're going to p*ss off half the people.”The multiple Grammy winner also told PEOPLE in October 2017:“They’re Lily and they’re Jane and I’m Dolly. So, they did their thing, I did mine. Oh, we got a little flak from it, but you know, I can’t worry about all that… I don’t do politics. I’m an entertainer. When I’m out there, if all else fails, I just do a b**b joke.”That same month, Dolly Parton appeared on Fox and Friends and stated:"Everybody knows I don’t do politics — because my mother was a Democrat and my daddy was a Republican, so I’m a hypocrat."It is noteworthy that Dolly Parton’s younger sister Stella Parton has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump.Parton was preceded in death by her husband Carl Dean in March 2025. He was 82.Earlier this year in May, Dolly canceled her Las Vegas residency due to her deteriorating health and stated her immune and digestive systems were “all out of whack.” However, she reassured that she was responding well to the treatment.Ahead of her demise, she said she was having a “hard time” with her health, which she had neglected while caring for her late husband. Dolly Parton further told PEOPLE that she was “still working” and had “so many things” she wanted to accomplish. Her final appearance was a surprise at the grand opening of her own Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, TN, on June 24.Besides Donald Trump, tributes have been pouring in for Parton from both sides of the political spectrum. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton paid their respects.