Thursday, 23 May 2024

Trump: Washington should have named Mount Vernon after himself

President Trump thinks George Washington missed a branding opportunity by not naming Mount Vernon after himself, according to a report.

“If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it,” Trump said during a tour of the first president’s estate in Virginia a year ago that he shared with French President Emmanuel Macron, three people briefed on the exchange told Politico this week.

“You’ve got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you,” Trump reportedly added after learning that Washington was one of the major real-estate movers and shakers of his era.

Mount Vernon President and CEO Doug Bradburn, who served as the VIP tour guide, pointed out that Washington was successful in getting the nation’s capital named after himself, to which Trump conceded laughingly, according to the news outlet.

Bradburn later described the 45-minute tour as “truly bizarre” after he found it difficult to sustain Trump’s interest in the compound of his first counterpart, the sources told Politico.

The Macrons were far more knowledgeable about the history of the property than Trump, Bradburn has reportedly told several people.

Trump is open about the fact that he doesn’t read much history and said in July 2016 that he had never read a presidential biography.

Bradburn “was desperately trying to get [Trump] interested in” Washington’s house, a source told Politico, so he spoke in terms the president understands best — telling him that Washington was an 18th century real-estate mogul.

Trump asked whether Washington was “really rich,” another source familiar with the visit said.

In fact, Washington was either the richest or among the richest Americans of his time, thanks mostly to his real estate acquisitions.

“That is what Trump was really the most excited about,” the source said.

Trump did find one thing he liked at Mount Vernon — the bed where Washington died of a throat infection in 1799.

Trump — who is infamously picky about where he sleeps — felt out the bedpost and told his guest that he approved, according to three people briefed on the event.

“A good bed to die in,” he said.

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