Trump Expresses Anger Over Third-Best US President Ranking

Speaking to Republican senators in the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump said he was “extremely angry” after seeing a television ranking that placed him third-best president behind George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. He acknowledged it would be “tough to beat” Washington and Lincoln but vowed “we’re going to give it a try.” During the same remarks he repeated a long-standing, debunked claim—“we put out eight wars, and the ninth is coming,” referencing the war in Ukraine—and earlier accepted the Richard Nixon Foundation’s Architect of Peace Award. Reporters characterized the episode as another example of Trump’s blend of historical comparison, self-praise and political bravado.