Donald Trump Quotes For Presidents Day 2017: 10 Comments From POTUS About Former Presidents

Donald Trump will spend his first Presidents Day in the White House Monday. However, it was unlikely to be a solely celebratory occasion for the current incumbent. Protests were scheduled across the country in a series of rallies under the name “Not My Presidents Day.”

Monday was also the first time that Presidents’ Day included honoring a president who before being sworn in had no political or military experience. Trump’s outsider status has been a continual theme among his most notable quotes about the presidency and former presidents.

A sampling of comments Trump has made about past presidents follows below.

"I think he’s the worst president, maybe, in the history of our country. I think he's been a disaster. He's been weak, he's been ineffective.” (On President Barack Obama, Aug. 2, 2016)

"[Putin] has very strong control over a country. Now, it's a very different system, and I don't happen to like the system, but certainly in that system, he's been a leader. Far more than our president has been a leader." (On Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sept. 6, 2016)

"Well, I like Reagan. I didn't like him on trade but other than trade, I liked him very much and he was OK on trade. But not great.” (on Ronald Reagan being the president he most admires, Jan. 26, 2017)

“Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, and many of our greatest presidents fought with the media and called them out, oftentimes, on their lies. When the media lies to people, I will never, ever let them get away with it.” (On claiming that many of his illustrious predecessors also criticized the media, Feb. 18, 2017)

“When Thomas Jefferson said ‘nothing can be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself,’ he said, ‘becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.’ That was June 14 — my birthday — 1807.” (Selectively quoting Thomas Jefferson, Feb. 18, 2017)

"Well, I think Lincoln succeeded for numerous reasons. He was a man who was of great intelligence, which most presidents would be. But he was a man of great intelligence, but he was also a man who did something that was a very vital thing to do at that time." (On why Abraham Lincoln succeeded, April 2016)

"Nixon failed, I think to a certain extent, because of his personality. You know? It was just that personality. Very severe, very exclusive. In other words, people couldn’t come in. And people didn’t like him. I mean, people didn’t like him." (And on why Richard Nixon failed, April 2, 2016)

"Let me just tell you that Dwight Eisenhower, good president, great president, people liked him. ‘I like Ike,’ right?" (On Dwight Eisenhower, Nov. 11 2015)

"There was a little spirit. Frankly, had he not met Monica, had he not met Paula, had he not met various and sundry semi-beautiful women, he would have had a much better deal going.” (On explaining Bill Clinton as his favorite president of the last four, June 16, 2015)

"You call it whatever you want. I want to tell you. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction; there were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction." (On George W. Bush and Iraq, Feb. 13, 2016)