US President Donald Trump appeared on Second Lady Usha Vance's children's podcast StoryTime with the Second Lady on 4 July, offering candid and often humorous reflections on former American presidents while delivering an Independence Day message to young viewers. The episode, recorded in the Oval Office, was released as the United States marked the 250th anniversary of its independence.

The Setting and the Book

Trump joined Vance for a reading of Presidents Play!, a children's book published by the White House Historical Association that spotlights the sporting and recreational hobbies of American presidents. The Oval Office setting lent the episode an unusual intimacy, with Trump turning pages and commenting on illustrations of his predecessors.

When asked whether he still reads for pleasure, Trump was characteristically self-referential: 'So I end up reading mostly newspapers. I usually read... stories about myself.'

Trump's Verdicts on His Predecessors

Working through the book, Trump offered brief but pointed assessments of several former presidents. He called Lyndon B. Johnson 'a very tough cookie' and described Ronald Reagan as 'a high quality person.' On Harry Truman, he noted the former president's habit of walking the White House grounds.

Trump was warm about Bill Clinton, saying, 'He actually was a nice guy. I like Bill Clinton a lot.' Viewing an illustration of Abraham Lincoln on horseback, he expressed interest in riding but quipped: 'Falling off horses is not good.'

He also commented on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, and John F. Kennedy, describing Kennedy as 'the second most good looking president, they say.'

On Nixon, Obama, and Himself

Trump's remarks on Richard Nixon carried an unmistakable personal resonance. 'He spent a lot of time fighting to stay in office because he had a lot of... people got him into trouble and he got himself into trouble, I guess,' Trump said.

Turning to a page featuring Barack Obama playing basketball, Trump was sceptical of Obama's skills on the court: 'I don't know if he's a good basketball player. I tend to doubt it. Actually, his favourite sport is golf... but he won't be in the masters anytime soon.'

On Dwight D. Eisenhower's putting green outside the White House, Trump said he had never used it because 'I don't want to be seen putting at the White House. I want to be seen working at the White House.' He joked that Herbert Hoover's namesake ball game 'worked out better for him than the economy.'

Discussing William Howard Taft — historically the heaviest US president — Trump said, 'I have to be careful because I don't want to supersede his record,' before advising young viewers to 'keep yourself in good shape.'

Independence Day Message and Praise for Vance

Closing the episode, Trump praised Usha Vance directly: 'Everybody loves you. It's a great honor.' Asked what he would tell children on the Fourth of July, he said: 'We have a great country... we're going to make America greater than ever before. But the 4th of July is a fantastic day. It's a day of celebration.'

The appearance is part of broader White House public outreach around the 250th anniversary of American independence, with commemorative events scheduled across the country in the lead-up to next year's milestones.