Trump’s claim about a former president’s private regret surfaced Monday during his public remarks about the U.S. response to Iran, and it quickly ran into a contradiction from the former presidents themselves. Trump said he had been told, in a private Oval Office conversation, that the ex-president “ojalá lo hubiera hecho” about attacking Iran in the way Trump has been doing for more than two weeks.
Trump did not disclose which former president he meant when reporters asked. He said he did not want to “avergonzarlo,” adding that it would be very bad for the person’s career, even though the former president “no tiene carrera,” according to the Associated Press account. Trump also declined to identify the former president when pressed later during remarks from the Oval Office, after which he said the person was someone he liked and described the former president as “inteligente.”
In a separate development on Monday, representatives of the four living former presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden—said none of the four had been in contact with Trump recently. The AP reported that the people speaking on the former presidents’ behalf did so under conditions of anonymity because they said they were not authorized to comment on private conversations involving the former presidents.
Trump’s account came as he framed himself as the only head of state willing to act on the Iran threat. In his remarks, he said that “durante 47 años, ningún presidente estuvo dispuesto a hacer lo que yo estoy haciendo,” and argued that presidents “lo sabían” but did not do it. Trump said he had spoken with the unnamed former president, whom he described as “un presidente del pasado” and said the former president expressed regret for not doing what Trump has done.
Trump first shared the story during “unas declaraciones extensas” about the Iran war at the start of a Kennedy Center board meeting, according to the AP. Trump is described as the chair of the Kennedy Center board and the meeting took place at the White House. Later Monday, he repeated the story again while speaking in the Oval Office, when reporters tested whether the former president he had referenced might have been George W. Bush or Bill Clinton.
When a reporter asked “¿Fue George W. Bush?”, Trump answered “No.” When asked “¿Fue Bill Clinton?”, Trump replied, “No quiero decirlo,” before again describing the former president as someone intelligent whom he said he likes, and repeating the phrase attributed to the former president that he had wished he “lo hubiera hecho,” but without naming the person.
The AP said the White House did not respond to a request for comment after being told that none of the four living former presidents’ representatives said they had talked to Trump recently. It also reported that Trump and the four former presidents had last been together in the same place for their inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, well before the Iran-related war.
Beyond the Oval Office conversation dispute, Trump on Monday also announced that Vice President JD Vance would lead a working group meant to eliminate fraud in federal benefit programs, according to the AP. Trump has been critical of both Biden and Obama in the context of the Iran conflict and prior nuclear diplomacy, and the AP said he has frequently described Biden as the “peor presidente en la historia de nuestro país,” while accusing Obama of negotiating a “horrible acuerdo” with Iran over nuclear weapons.
The contradiction between Trump’s unnamed account and the denials from the former presidents’ representatives places the focus on how private conversations are being used to support public claims about the Iran conflict. Trump said he would not name the person to avoid embarrassing him, while the former presidents’ representatives said they had no recent contact with Trump, leaving the specific identity—and the details of the conversation—unconfirmed by those most directly named.