WASHINGTON (AP) — On Monday, President Donald Trump claimed twice to have obtained a sort of confession from a previous Oval Office occupant. Trump said this predecessor expressed regret in a private conversation for not engaging with Iran as he has for over two weeks.
However, representatives for the four living former presidents — three Democrats and one Republican — reported that none have recently communicated with Trump.
When asked to identify the former president, Trump declined, stating he did not want to “embarrass him.”
Trump initially recounted this story in his remarks about the Iran conflict during a meeting of the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center, where he serves as chairman and hosted the event at the White House.
He reiterated that Iran had posed a threat to the U.S. for decades, claiming he was the only president with the courage to address it.
“For 47 years, no president was willing to do what I’m doing, and they should have done it long ago,” he stated. “It would have been much easier. No president wanted to do it.
“And every president knew. I spoke to a certain president, who I like, a former president. He said, ‘I wish I did it, I wish I did,’ but they didn’t. I’m doing it,” Trump added.
When pressed about the identity of the 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.”
Representatives for Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden stated they had not recently spoken with Trump. These individuals requested anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss private conversations of the former presidents.
The White House did not immediately comment after being informed that none of the former presidents had been in contact with Trump recently.
Trump and the four former presidents last gathered together at his inauguration on January 20, 2025, well before the war.
Trump has been highly critical of Biden and Obama, often labeling Biden as the “worst president in the history of our country” and accusing Obama of striking a “horrible deal” with Iran regarding its nuclear weapons. Trump withdrew the U.S. from that agreement during his first term.
Recently, Trump expressed sympathy for Clinton, stating it “bothers” him that Clinton was called to give a deposition to Congress about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
“I liked Bill Clinton. I still like Bill Clinton,” Trump mentioned in a February 4 interview with NBC News. “I liked his behavior toward me. I thought he got me, he understood me.”
Trump reiterated his account of speaking with a former president about Iran later on Monday in the Oval Office, where he announced Vice President JD Vance would lead a task force aimed at eliminating fraud in federal benefit programs.
A reporter asked, “Was it George W. Bush?”
Another asked, “Was it Bill Clinton?”
Trump replied: “I don’t want to say. I don’t want to say,” 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.”
