The graphic shared by Trump also listed James Buchanan, Woodrow Wilson, Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the presidents who “broke” America
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NEED TO KNOW
- President Donald Trump shared a ranking of U.S. presidents by their impact, calling Jimmy Carter one of five who “broke” America
- Trump credited himself, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Reagan as presidents who “built” the country
- The recent social media post follows his repeated critiques of Carter
President Donald Trump shared a meme that claims the late Jimmy Carter was one of the presidents to “break” the U.S.
On Friday, Aug. 28, the 80-year-old president shared a Truth Social post with an illustration showing five presidents who “built” the U.S. and five who “broke” the country.
The meme included Trump alongside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan as the presidents who “built” the U.S. Each president’s portrait included one word, highlighting what the meme’s creator thought of each president. Washington was credited with “foundation,” Lincoln with “union,” Jefferson with “liberty,” Reagan with “strength,” and Trump with “America first.”
The photo listed presidents James Buchanan, Woodrow Wilson, Carter, Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the five who broke America. The descriptors for the five read: “Failure” for Buchanan; “Bureaucracy” for Wilson; “Division” for Obama; “Weakness” for Carter; and “Decline” for Biden.
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Trump has criticized Carter on multiple occasions. On Carter’s 100th birthday on Oct. 1, 2024, Trump mocked him during an event at a manufacturing facility. “Jimmy Carter is the happiest man because Jimmy Carter is considered a brilliant president by comparison,” he said, while also calling Biden the worst president in U.S. history, per The Daily Beast and USA Today.
Carter, the longest-living president, died on Dec. 29, 2024. Following the former president and humanitarian’s death, Trump paid tribute and praised Carter in a statement.
“Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” he wrote on Truth Social. “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”
After Carter’s death, the nation observed the 30-day traditional remembrance by flying the American flag at half-staff. The practice — which applies to “all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels” — is standard for the death of any current or former president, according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. This coincided with Trump’s inauguration, and the flags were at half-staff until Jan. 28, 2025.
However, Trump said on Jan. 3, 2025, that “nobody” wanted to see the flags at half-staff during his inauguration. On Jan. 14, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared the flags would be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.
In April 2025, Trump commented on Carter and his legacy, saying Biden’s administration was “worse than Jimmy Carter.”
“Jimmy Carter died a happy man,” Trump said. “You know why? Because he wasn’t the worst. President Joe Biden was.”
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In addition to Trump’s ranking of the presidents who broke and built the country, he also shared a ranking of “the greatest” presidents in a separate Truth Social post on Friday, Aug. 28. Trump placed himself at the top of the ranking under the words “the greatest” while historic presidents like Lincoln, Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt were placed under “great.”
Under the “near great” category were Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt, among others. “Average” presidents included Clinton, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe and James Madison, among several others and “below average” presidents included Calvin Coolidge, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore.
Carter, Obama and Biden were added to the “failures” category at the bottom alongside Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding.
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