WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that one of his predecessors told him he wished he had been the one to bomb Iran.
It appears he did not speak to any of the four former presidents.
An aide for George W. Bush told NBC News that “they haven’t been in touch,” while an aide to Bill Clinton told NBC News that whoever Trump was referring to was not Clinton.
An aide to Barack Obama said “no recent conversations” have taken place, and a source familiar with the matter said the former president Trump was referring to was not Joe Biden.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the denials Monday night.
Earlier in the day, Trump claimed twice to have spoken to a former president about Iran.
“I’ve spoken to a certain president — who I like, actually. A past president, former president, he said: ‘I wish I did it. I wish I did.’ But they didn’t do it. I’m doing it. Yeah?” Trump said at a lunch for Kennedy Center board members.
Later in the day, Trump repeated the claim in the Oval Office, saying: “I spoke to one of the former presidents who I actually like.”
“I actually speak to some,” Trump said. “And he said, ‘I wish I did what you did.’”
Asked by a reporter to elaborate on which president he was speaking to, Trump did not specify. He said it wasn’t Bush and then said “I don’t want to say” when he was asked it was Clinton.
“I don’t want to say because a member of a party, a member of a party, they have Trump derangement syndrome, but it’s somebody that happens to like me, and I like that person, who’s a smart person, but that person said, ‘I wish I did it.’ OK, but I don’t want to get into who. I don’t want to get him into trouble,” Trump said.
“You know, it’s interesting. And maybe he’d be proud,” Trump said about the former president. “And I could even ask him that: ‘Would you like me to reveal your name?’”
