WASHINGTON — During two separate occasions on Monday, President Donald Trump claimed that an unnamed former commander-in-chief had privately admitted to regretting their failure to take aggressive action against Iran similar to Trump’s current approach over the past two weeks.
However, there’s a significant issue with this account: spokespeople for all four living ex-presidents — including three Democrats and one Republican — have stated that none have had recent conversations with Trump.
When pressed by journalists to identify which former president he spoke with, Trump refused to provide a name, stating he wouldn’t want to “embarrass him.”
The Republican commander-in-chief initially shared this account during lengthy comments about the Iran conflict while opening a Kennedy Center board of trustees meeting. As board chairman, Trump conducted the session at the White House.
Trump reiterated his position that Iran has posed a danger to America for decades, but claimed he alone among presidents has shown the determination to address it.
“Look, for 47 years, no president was willing to do what I’m doing, and they should have done it a long time ago,” Trump stated. “It would have been a lot easier. There’s no president that wanted to do it.”
“And yet every president knew. I’ve spoken to a certain president, who I like, actually, a past president, a former president. He said, ‘I wish I did it, I wish I did,’ but they didn’t do it. I’m doing it,” Trump added.
When reporters inquired about the identity of this former president, Trump responded: “I can’t tell you that. I don’t want to embarrass him. It would be very bad for his career, even though he’s got no career.”
Spokespeople for former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden each confirmed they had not engaged in recent discussions with Trump. These individuals requested anonymity as they lack authorization to discuss the former presidents’ private communications.
The White House did not provide an immediate response when contacted for comment after learning that representatives for all former presidents denied recent conversations with Trump.
Trump and the four previous presidents were most recently in the same location during his January 20, 2025 inauguration — occurring well before the current conflict.
Trump has consistently criticized both Biden and Obama harshly, frequently labeling Biden the “worst president in the history of our country” and condemning Obama for negotiating what he calls a “horrible deal” regarding Iran’s nuclear program. During his first presidency, Trump pulled America out of that agreement.
However, the Republican leader recently expressed more favorable views toward Clinton, saying it “bothers” him that the former president was required to provide congressional testimony regarding his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I liked Bill Clinton. I still like Bill Clinton,” Trump remarked during a February 4 NBC News interview. “I liked his behavior toward me. I thought he got me, he understood me.”
Trump retold his account about the Iran discussion with a former president later Monday in the Oval Office, during an announcement that Vice President JD Vance would head a newly formed task force targeting fraud in federal benefit programs.
“Was it George W. Bush?” one reporter inquired.
“No,” Trump replied.
“Was it Bill Clinton?” the journalist continued.
Trump responded: “I don’t want to say. I don’t want to say,” before adding that “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, OK. I don’t want to get them into trouble.”
