GENE SIMMONS Pays Surprise Visit To The White House, Pentagon: Photos, Video

Gene Simmons made a surprise appearance in the press briefing room at the Pentagon earlier today (Thursday, May 16). The KISS bassist/vocalist thanked American troops for their service and became emotional discussing his mother's experience surviving a concentration camp.

Later in the day, Simmons and his wife, Shannon Tweed Simmons, were seen entering the White House. He shrugged when asked by reporters if he planned to meet with President Trump, according to The Hill.

Last fall, Simmons told the Toronto Sun that a "lot of people" were "unhappy" with Trump's job performance. "But job rates are down, the economy is booming like never before," he said. "The rest of it — politics. You like the guy, vote him back in. You don't like guy, just make sure nobody votes him back in. My assessment is very clear — unless he's impeached, if there are no more big wars, and if the Dow approaches 29,000, which it may, not only will President Trump be re-elected, but it'll be a landslide."

The 69-year-old rocker — who is a former contestant on Donald Trump's "The Celebrity Apprentice" series — went on to say that Trump is not doing his job well "if you have a problem with him socially and politically and stuff like that. But either you approach a country like a business or not because families only care about two things: Is my family safe? Which means war, police, things like that," he explained. "And can I feed my family? Do I have a job? Am I getting paid well? The rest is politics. If you're going to after President Trump for having an affair, you have to go all the way to George Washington and [Justin] Trudeau's father, everybody. You have to go after men. The tendency to wander."

Simmons predicted in the months following the last U.S. presidential election that the Dow Jones Industrial Average would plow past 23,000 (it currently stands at under 26,000) as optimism over corporate earnings turbocharged.

In the past, Gene has defended Trump's occasional off-color remarks and frequently outrageous statements, saying: "I don't know anybody here who hasn't said stupid things publicly or privately. You've said potty words and so have I. So I'm gonna give the guy who was duly elected a chance to show us what he can do, and then I'll judge his legacy."

Simmons said that he "didn't necessarily vote for President Trump or candidate [Hillary] Clinton" in the 2016 presidential election, adding that "it's really nobody's damn business" whom he voted for. "I think you'd be surprised by my choice — but he's President Trump, because even if you don't like the man, you must respect the office of the presidency and the will of the Electoral College," he said.

A year ago, Simmons, who was born in Israel, sided with Trump on moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and building a southern border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Back in 2017, Simmons confirmed that KISS was invited to perform at Trump's inauguration but turned it down because it was "not a good idea."