**Trump Declares Himself the 'Greatest' US President in Controversial Ranking**
Former President Donald Trump has made headlines once again by declaring himself the "greatest" president in United States history. This assertion was made in a post shared on Truth Social, where Trump also labeled current President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama as "failures." The ranking, which Trump posted on Thursday, categorizes U.S. presidents into six tiers, with Trump positioned at the top.
In the graphic shared by Trump, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington are placed one tier below him in the "Great" category. Lincoln is renowned for leading the nation through the Civil War and abolishing slavery, while Washington is celebrated as the first U.S. president and a key figure in the country's founding. Other presidents in the "Great" tier include Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson.
The ranking system also includes tiers labeled "Near Great," "Average," "Below Average," and "Failures." Notably, Trump’s chart places Biden and Obama, along with former presidents Jimmy Carter, Ulysses S. Grant, and Warren G. Harding, in the "Failures" category. The graphic features a total of 34 presidents, while 11 others, including Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, are notably absent.
The structure of Trump's ranking appears to be an adaptation of a historical survey conducted by LIFE magazine in 1948. In that survey, historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. asked 55 experts in American history to classify U.S. presidents into similar categories. While Trump's version retains the original categories, he has inserted himself at the pinnacle and included several recent Democratic presidents in the lower tiers.
Trump's post followed a CNN segment that highlighted a recent poll from Elon University, which indicated that 53% of Republican respondents identified him as the Republican president they admired most. This figure significantly surpassed that of Ronald Reagan, who garnered 18%, and Lincoln, who received 8%. CNN analyst Harry Enten remarked on the "historic comparison," noting that Trump "nearly triples up" on Reagan in the admiration rankings.
However, Trump's self-assessment stands in stark contrast to expert evaluations of his presidency. The Presidential Greatness Project ranked him last among U.S. presidents in a 2018 survey, assigning him a score of just 12.34 out of 100, compared to Lincoln's impressive 95.03. In a more recent 2024 survey involving 154 presidential scholars and experts, Trump again found himself at the bottom of the rankings, with Lincoln once more taking the top spot.
In addition to the rankings, Trump's overall approval ratings have faced significant challenges during his second term. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from August 21 to 24 revealed that his approval rating had dropped to a record low of 33%, with 65% of respondents expressing disapproval. A separate Marquette survey indicated even lower approval ratings concerning his handling of the economy, with just 30% of respondents approving of his economic management and only 22% supporting his record on inflation and the rising cost of living.
As Trump continues to assert his position in the political landscape, his self-proclaimed title as the "greatest" president is likely to spark further debate among supporters and critics alike. The contrasting views between his personal rankings and those of historical experts highlight the ongoing divide in perceptions of his presidency and its legacy.