President Donald Trump mixed children’s storytelling with his trademark humor during an appearance on Second Lady Usha Vance’s podcast, “Storytime with the Second Lady”, where he read a picture book and frequently paused to make jokes about former presidents, his appearance, his weight and even the White House’s planned new ballroom.
The episode, released on Friday, features Trump reading “Presidents Play!”, a children’s book published by the White House Historical Association that explores how US presidents spent their leisure time while living at the White House.
According to the Associated Press, the episode was pre-recorded in the Oval Office in mid-June.
When Vance asked whether he ever finds time to read for pleasure, Trump responded with a joke that quickly became one of the episode’s standout moments.
“I usually read stories about myself,” he quipped.
As he turned the pages of the book, Trump repeatedly broke from the text to offer his own observations about several former presidents.
He described Lyndon B. Johnson as “a tough cookie” and praised Ronald Reagan as “a high-quality person.” Referring to John F. Kennedy, Trump called him “the second-most good-looking president,” though he did not reveal who he believed deserved the top spot.
Looking at a page featuring Richard Nixon, Trump remarked, “got himself into trouble, I guess,” an apparent reference to the Watergate scandal that led to Nixon’s resignation.
Trump also commented on former President Herbert Hoover’s favorite game, Hoover Ball, which was created by a White House physician as a fitness activity.
“That worked out better for him than the economy,” Trump was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
When the book showed former President Barack Obama playing basketball, Trump questioned his athletic abilities.
Calling him “Barack Hussein Obama,” Trump said golf was Obama’s favorite sport before adding, “He won’t be in the Master’s anytime soon.”
An illustration of Bill Clinton jogging prompted another lighthearted remark.
“I don’t think I’ll ever do that,” Trump stated before adding that he liked the former president “a lot.”
The conversation also turned to Trump’s own fitness. Looking at an illustration of Gerald Ford swimming, he joked, “I don’t know if I look good in a bathing suit. I haven’t had a bathing suit in a long time.”
When the book mentioned William Howard Taft, widely regarded as the heaviest US president, Trump joked, “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.”
He then offered a piece of advice to young viewers, saying, “For all of you out there watching, keep yourself in good shape.”
A page featuring Abraham Lincoln riding a horse led Trump to imagine doing the same.
“I’d like to ride horses, too,” he said, before joking that he would choose “a nice old horse that’s extremely slow, lazy” because “falling off horses is not good.”
Later, while discussing an illustration of John Quincy Adams swimming in what was once Tiber Creek, Trump referenced the White House’s planned ballroom project.
“I think we’re building a beautiful ballroom on top of it,” he said.
As the episode came to a close, Usha Vance asked Trump what message he wanted to share with children celebrating the Fourth of July.
“We have a great country,” Trump said. “We have a country that, it’s on a little bit of a ledge right now. It can go one way or another, you understand that. But we’re going to make it go the other. And we’re going to make America greater than ever before,” he added.