Overview
- President Donald Trump posted a Truth Social graphic that sorts U.S. presidents into six tiers and places him alone at the top labeled “The Greatest.”
- The chart lists 33 presidents across categories from “Great” to “Failures” and omits roughly a dozen leaders, notably including Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and both Bush presidents.
- Observers noted the layout and selections closely resemble a 1948 Life Magazine presidential ranking, prompting questions about the chart’s provenance and whether Trump or an aide adapted an older list and added his name.
- Conservative commentators and other online users mocked the post, calling it egotistical and pointing especially to the Reagan omission, while mainstream outlets documented the backlash and puzzling placements such as Abraham Lincoln in the same tier as George Washington.
- The episode fits a pattern of partisan historical curation by the Trump White House, and it arrives as academic surveys rank Trump poorly and his approval ratings sit at recent lows, which critics say helps explain efforts to shape his legacy.