Trump Edits His List of Greatest US Presidents

Newsweek ^ | September 7, 2026 | Alice Gibbs

[MinorityRepublican]

President Donald Trump has shared a revised version of his ranking of U.S. presidents, expanding a chart he posted days earlier that placed himself alone in a category labeled "The Greatest" above Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The updated ranking, posted to Truth Social on Sunday, retains Trump in a standalone top tier but adds a number of former presidents who were absent from the version he previously shared. Among those newly included are Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

The president’s original chart drew attention because it closely resembled a famous presidential ranking created by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. for LIFE magazine in 1948.

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TOPICS: History; Politics
KEYWORDS:

[MinorityRepublican]

A picture of the updated presidential ranking list shared by Trump. | @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

[HIDEK6]

Edith Wilson?

[stanne]

Wilson?

[ansel12]

Why antagonize people for something that has no benefit, as people are getting close to voting?

[thegagline]

Wilson was an absolute disaster. FDR basically opened the door for big government. It’s almost as if a Democrat made this list.

[Salvavida]

LBJ is only “Below Average?”

[US_MilitaryRules]

He is definitely at the top! Trump 2028!

[KarlInOhio]

Any list that doesn’t have Wilson within spitting distance of last is just wrong. Swap Coolidge with Wilson and then move Wilson down further.

[Nateman]

Washington gets my vote for #1. Without him there was no USA. He was also the only President to get a unanimous vote from the Electoral College. FDR goes near the bottom because of his vast expansion of the Federal Government.

[Nateman]

Coolidge was a favorite of Reagan. He simply ran the country efficiently without much fan-fair. He deserves a higher position .

[Carry_Okie]

Coolidge was a favorite of Reagan. He simply ran the country efficiently without much fan-fair. He deserves a higher position.

It's pretty clear that Trump's metric for "greatness" is the degree of change that President effected; i.e., 'doing big things,' Constitutional or not.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

I like Cleveland high… put Benjamin Harrison higher, he would rather duck hunt than deal with politics