Donald Trump had only kind words to say about Jimmy Carter upon his death on Sunday, calling the former president “a truly good man” who will be missed. At Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida, flags were flying at half-staff on Monday in Carter’s honor. Trump offered a far less charitable view of Carter when he was alive.
For years, Trump, a Republican, mocked the one-term, Democratic commander-in-chief as the nation’s worst president. Just two months ago, on Carter’s 100th birthday, Trump suggested the terminally ill centenarian was happy because Trump had finally replaced him as the worst president ever. Carter often gave as good as he got.
Before he got his start in politics, Carter was no Georgia peach when it came to his assessment of Trump. When late-night TV host Stephen Colbert asked him in 2018 if Americans wanted “kind of a jerk” as their leader, Carter didn’t miss a beat. “Apparently, from this recent election, yes,” he retorted.
Amid the barrage of insults and smack talk were temporary moments of rapprochement between the 39th and the 45th presidents. During Trump’s first term, Carter occasionally came to his defense. Carter not only attended Trump’s first inauguration, but he was also the first former president to RSVP.
Later that year, in 2017, Carter suggested the media had been harder on Trump than any other president. Trump responded by tweeting a message of thanks to Carter for “the nice remarks.”
In 2019, Trump’s White House announced that Carter had sent a “beautiful” letter about trade talks with China and that the two men had a “very good telephone conversation” on China and other topics.
Trump’s softened stance on Carter
“The president has always liked President Carter and extended his best wishes to them on behalf of the American people,” the White House statement said. If Trump liked Carter, he seldom let it show. In 2014, Trump joked that Carter was dead, even though the former president was very much alive.
While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump referred to the “late, great Jimmy Carter.” “Of course I don’t think Jimmy Carter is dead,” he tweeted later amid criticism for the gaffe. “Just being sarcastic,” he said, adding, “but never thought he was alive as President, stiff!”
On several occasions, Trump called Carter the worst president in history. “I never thought I’d say it in my lifetime, but President Barack Hussein Obama, aka Barry Sotoro, is a far worse president than Jimmy Carter!” Trump said in 2014.
Trump, who has a tendency to tailor his message to suit his audience, offered a slightly different take after Biden defeated him in 2020. He suggested several times that Biden, not Obama, had replaced Carter as the worst president ever. For his part, Carter called Trump “a disaster” of a president during a 2018 interview with The Washington Post and suggested the Republican held “an attitude of ignorance toward the truth.” The next year, Carter told his church congregation in Plains, Georgia, that Trump had called him to discuss the letter he had sent to Trump about China.
Carter suggested China would likely surpass the U.S. as an economic superpower because it had been able to avoid the military entanglements that have drained funds that might otherwise have been spent on infrastructure. “I don’t really fear that time, but it bothers President Trump, and I don’t know why,” Carter said. “I’m not criticizing him – this morning,” he added.
After Carter’s death, Trump made reference to his disagreements with the former president but dispensed with the insults, even suggesting that Carter had earned his respect. “While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for,” he wrote. “He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect.”
