President Donald Trump aired out his grievances with Democrats in a wide-ranging address to House Republicans during their policy retreat on Tuesday.
In the middle of his speech, Trump pointed to his refusal to release his tax returns in 2022 — before the Supreme Court, after a three-year legal battle, cleared the way for their handover to the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee, which went on to publish his documents spanning six years.
“By fighting, they think you’re trying to hide something, you know, naturally,” Trump said. “I gave my tax returns. That’s the last we ever heard… there hasn’t been one story that I did anything wrong.”
“So this friend of mine is highly sophisticated, rich guy, smart guy, said, ‘There’s nobody that I know that could have gone through an examination like that and not ended up in prison,” he continued. “Nobody ever had to suffer like I did. Nobody ever did that to anybody else.”
Trump then went on to cite what he characterized as an expression that Andrew Jackson was the “most abused president in the history of the United States.”
“That’s before me,” Trump said.
In second, according to the president, is Abraham Lincoln.
“But he had a civil war, so we have to give him a pass,” Trump said, adding: “Andrew Jackson was treated horribly. He was a great general and a good president. So bad that his wife died. I mean his wife died. Horrible.”
He went on to say that “I blow them away,” noting he was impeached twice — the only president to hold that record.
It is not the first time Trump has described himself as the most maligned president in U.S. history.
In March, Trump told Newsmax that Jackson was “treated the absolute worst,” claiming he was “really lambasted.” He said that Lincoln, who was assassinated, followed.
“Nobody’s been treated like Trump in terms of badly,” Trump said in the interview.
During the over one-hour address at the Kennedy Center, Trump also repeated attacks against his political rivals, applauded his accomplishments so far during his second term and defended his actions during the Capitol riot as Tuesday marks the five-year anniversary.
At one point, Trump urged the GOP to maintain control of Congress during the 2026 midterm elections. He warned he could face impeachment once again from Democratic lawmakers if Republicans aren’t victorious.
“We won everything, but they say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm,” Trump said. “So you’re all brilliant people, most of you are in this business longer than me. That makes me smarter than you, because look where I am, right? No, it doesn’t. But I wish you could explain to me what the hell’s going on with the mind of the public.”
