Matt Damon roots for Trump

Davos - Movie star Matt Damon said Wednesday he was grudgingly rooting for Donald Trump to make a success of his presidency, despite Hollywood's opposition to the Republican billionaire.

"I would like to see him be successful, I really would," Damon told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Swiss ski resort where movers and shakers from the political and business worlds are holed up this week.

"Obviously it's no secret that I didn't vote for him," said the 46-year-old star of the "Jason Bourne" spy series.

But he added: "I wish him well, and we all must. A successful American president is good for all of us."

Damon defended fellow A-lister Meryl Streep over her verbal brawl with the US president-elect, who labelled her "one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood" after she used an awards speech to trash him.

"He's right, she's totally overrated as an actress," Damon joked, before adding: "I thought what she said about bullying was very important... Bullying people with less power is unhealthy, and it's behaviour that children will model."

Damon said he was still nervous about what the next four years will bring now that Trump is about to become "the most consequential person on the planet".

Water.org

He drew reference to the "beautiful handwritten note" that George HW Bush wrote in 1993 to Bill Clinton as the then president handed over to his Democratic successor, which read, "I am rooting for you".

"It was just the most graceful and wonderful and heartfelt sentiment, and I think that's what, in this moment, we all have to be feeling," Damon said.

The actor is in Davos to promote his charity Water.org which works to improve global access to clean water and sanitation.

"This problem is completely solvable - we solved it for ourselves in the West a hundred years ago and for 663 million people, it really is kind of what animates their entire lives," Damon told AFP in an interview.

"If we do make this comprehensive effort, we really actually can end this crisis in our lifetime - and wouldn't that be grand?"