Trump joins Usha Vance’s ‘Storytime’ podcast, reading on presidents and sports

Administration Trump joins Usha Vance’s ‘Storytime’ podcast, reading on presidents and sports Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/03/26 4:26 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/03/26 4:26 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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President Trump made a guest appearance on second lady Usha Vance’s children’s podcast, where he read a picture book about U.S. presidents while offering unscripted commentary on his presidential predecessors and life in the White House.

In Friday’s prerecorded episode of “Storytime with the Second Lady,” Trump read the children’s book “Presidents Play,” which was published by the White House Historical Association.

It shows illustrations of former presidents playing sports and doing recreational activities on the White House grounds.

When asked by the second lady whether he has time to read for fun while balancing the busy schedule demands as president, Trump said he mostly reads newspapers and stories on a very specific topic.

“I usually read stories about myself,” he replied.

As he flipped through the colorful book, Trump spoke about a number of former presidents from both parties.

He called former President Reagan a “high-quality person” while describing former President Lyndon B. Johnson as a “tough cookie.” He said former President Kennedy was “the second-most good-looking president,” without stating who he believed was first.

Trump said former President Nixon “got himself into trouble, I guess,” in an apparent reference to the Watergate scandal leading to Nixon becoming the first president to resign from office. He also joked that former President Hoover’s game called Hoover Ball “worked out better for him than the economy,” which had suffered massively during the Great Depression occurring while Hoover was president.

Trump didn’t miss an opportunity to take a swipe at former President Obama as he flipped to a page in the book showing the former president playing basketball.

Trump said that Obama, whom he referred to as “Barack Hussein Obama,” was good at basketball, though Trump said Obama’s favorite sport is actually golf.

“He won’t be in the Master’s anytime soon,” Trump said.

The president was more complimentary toward former President Clinton, who was depicted jogging in the book, saying, “I like him a lot.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever do that,” Trump said after reading about how Clinton had a small track built on the White House grounds.

Trump also commented on his weight while discussing former President Taft, saying “He was a large man — very large,” joking that Taft “was our heaviest president, and I have to be careful because I don’t want to supersede his record.”

Trump also used the podcast appearance as an opportunity to plug the massive ballroom project being built on the White House complex. While looking at an illustration of former President John Quincy Adams swimming in what was once Tiber Creek, Trump said, “I think we’re building a big beautiful ballroom on top of it.”