President Trump appeared on second lady Usha Vance’s podcast Friday to read the children’s book “Presidents Play,” only to stray from the text to offer extemporaneous commentary about his several predecessors.
The book — produced by the White House Historical Society — describes how America’s leaders spent their leisure time while in office.
Trump, flipping through the pages, discussed his predecessors’ looks, their hobbies and his opinion of their presidencies — often referring back to himself.
*On John F. Kennedy: “He was handsome. He was the second-most good-looking president, they say.”
*On Barack Obama: “Obama is a basketball player. I don’t know if he’s a good basketball player, I tend to doubt it. Actually, his favorite sport is golf … But he won’t be in the Masters anytime soon.”
*On William Howard Taft: “He was our heaviest president, and I have to be careful, because I don’t want to supersede his record, and a thing like that would be possible if I allowed it to happen. For all of you out there watching, keep yourself in good shape, right?”
*On Gerald Ford building at outdoor pool at the White House: “I don’t get to use it. I don’t know if I look good in a bathing suit. I haven’t had a bathing suit in a long time.”
*On Dwight Eisenhower adding a putting green to the South Lawn: “I’ve never used it, because I don’t want to be seen putting at the White House. I wanted to be seen working at the White House.”
*On Bill Clinton adding a jogging track: “I don’t think I’ll ever do that. I don’t see myself doing that. I don’t know, but he’s actually was a nice guy. I like Bill Clinton a lot. I still do.”
*On Abraham Lincoln riding horses: “I’d like to ride horses too. In fact, it gives me an idea, but when you fall off a horse, I’ve seen too many bad things happen.”
Trump also tied some of the book’s anecdotes back to his own work as president.
For example, after reading that Harry Truman liked to take walks around Washington DC, the president touted his crime crackdown and federal law enforcement surge for ensuring the capital city “has become a very safe place.”
John Quincy Adams, Trump noted, liked to swim in Tiber Creek, which ran near the White House before being redirected as DC grew in the mid-1800s.
According to Trump, his “beautiful ballroom” to replace the old East Wing is being constructed on the site of the former creekbed.
Former presidents have been constantly on Trump’s mind as he nears the halfway point of his second term.
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Trump said he started negotiations to end the war with Iran because “I don’t want to be a president that oversees the great worldwide depression, that was Herbert Hoover, and it was a terrible thing.”
At the opening Teddy Roosevelt’s presidential library in North Dakota Wednesday, Trump focused much of his remarks on the Panama Canal, construction on which began during the 26th presidnet’s term.
Trump, during his library tour, even interacted with a hologram of TR, saying he asked him: “What do you think about the Panama Canal? Do you consider that your greatest achievement and how do you feel about the fact that the Democrats gave the Panama Canal away to Panama for $1?”
“We gave it away,” the president said later. “It was the most expensive thing we ever built and it was also the most profitable thing we ever built. How stupid was that?”
Trump has also spent much of his second term searching for a tangible legacy to leave on DC.
In addition to renovating the Rose Garden, installing signage outside the Oval Office and constructing the ballroom, Trump is planning a massive triumphal arch to be built near the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia.
Usha Vance started the “Storytime with the Second Lady” podcast for children to promote literacy. She invites guests to talk about books they’re reading and to read a children’s book for those listening.
Trump was blunt when asked what about his reading habits, saying: “I end up reading mostly newspapers. I usually read stories about myself.”
The president concluded his appearance with a message for children in honor of the Fourth of July.
“We have a great country. We have a country that, it’s on a little bit of a ledge right now,” he said.
“It can go one way or another, you understand that. But we’re going to make it go the other way.”
