Despite some similarities, the two had notable differences
Asked about Trump’s shift in tone toward Carter and the two facing overlapping challenges, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wells said: “Trump will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and “remains laser-focused on implementing his proven cost-cutting economic agenda.”
“The president is an exceptional leader who will always unapologetically advance America’s interests,” Wells said in a statement. “The only legacy he is concerned with is making America greater than ever before.”
Kori Schake, a former member of George W. Bush’s National Security Council, said she doesn’t think Trump is reevaluating Carter. “He doesn’t put the facts together and he doesn’t create theories,” she said.
However, Trump’s latest comments are a far cry from his 2024 re-election campaign, when he routinely called Joe Biden the “worst president” that made Carter look “brilliant” by comparison. Trump still frequently mentions Carter, who died two years ago at age 100, but usually to falsely suggest that he was wary of mail-in ballots.
Other disparities between the two abound.
Carter was married to his wife, Rosalynn, for 77 years, was deeply religious and vowed to “never knowingly lie to the American people.” Trump is twice divorced, loves to curse in public and offers an endless onslaught of lies.
As president, Carter placed his family’s peanut business in a blind trust. Control of the Trump Organization has been transferred to Trump’s sons, but the president took in nearly $1.2 billion from his crypto businesses last year, while not being shy about turning his presidency into a huge source of personal gain in other ways.
Speaking in 1977, Carter declared: “We are now free from that inordinate fear of communism.” Trump has seized on primary victories by progressive Democrats to repeatedly stoke new fears about communism.
Carter also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Trump has not, despite declaring himself more deserving than any previous recipient of the prize.
