Trump shares fake Ronald Reagan quote suggesting Reagan predicted Trump's election — in 1987

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Updated

President Trump on Monday shared on Twitter a post that claimed President Ronald Reagan predicted in 1987 that Trump would someday be president. The post included a real photo of Trump and Reagan shaking hands, but the quote appears to be false.

The tweet shared by the president was posted by a Twitter account called the Reagan Battalion in February 2017, about a month after Trump’s inauguration.

It chided “weak” conservatives for doubting Trump’s electability and included a photo of Reagan shaking hands with Trump and the made-up quote attributed to the 40th U.S. president.

“For the life of me, and I’ll never know how to explain it, when I met that young man, I felt like I was the one shaking hands with a president,” the quote reads.

President Reagan shakes hands with Donald Trump at a reception at the White House in 1987. (Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum/Zuma Press)
President Reagan shakes hands with Donald Trump at a reception at the White House in 1987. (Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum/Zuma Press)

“Cute!” Trump exclaimed while sharing the faux Reagan quote.

According to the Reagan Library, the photo was taken at the White House on Nov. 3, 1987, during a reception for the Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies Foundation, of which Trump was a member.

But fact checks conducted by the Washington Post and Snopes.com found no evidence Reagan ever said he felt that way about meeting Trump.

The Reagan Battalion account, which had around 300 followers, was suspended a few hours later by Twitter.

President Trump shared on Twitter a fake quote attributed to former President Ronald Reagan. (Screengrab: realDonaldTrump via Twitter)
President Trump shared on Twitter a fake quote attributed to former President Ronald Reagan. (Screengrab: realDonaldTrump via Twitter)

The president, though, wasn’t done with lavishing himself with praise.

Trump retweeted five more tweets from a different Reagan Battalion account showing a large crowd and fireworks display from his Salute to America celebration on July 4.

“A massive crowd that Fake News & some Dems didn’t want to Report!” the president wrote.

He then thanked Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under former President George W. Bush, for a tweet applauding Trump’s July 4 address.

“That was the best speech Donald Trump has ever given,” Fleischer tweeted. “Wonderful tribute to the USA.”

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