A new book claims to reveal what President Donald Trump said to Barack Obama during their unexpectedly friendly exchange at former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral earlier this year.
The moment — which drew widespread attention after photos showed Trump, 79, and Obama, 63, smiling and chatting at the January 9 ceremony at Washington National Cathedral — sparked immediate speculation given their often combative history.
According to 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America by journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump extended an unexpected invitation to the former president: a round of golf.
The book alleges that Trump “invited [Obama] to play golf, enticing him with descriptions of Trump’s courses around the world” during their conversation.
Trump owns golf courses across the globe, including in Florida, Scotland, Ireland, Indonesia, Dubai, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
When Obama arrived at the funeral, he greeted the other former presidents and vice presidents in attendance — all of whom stood to say hello. Trump, attending the service with First Lady Melania Trump, remained seated as Obama approached. But not long after, the two men were seen speaking warmly.
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Trump himself later acknowledged the moment, telling Fox News’ Peter Doocy during a meeting with Republican governors that their exchange “did look very friendly.”
“I saw it on your wonderful network… and I said, ‘Boy, they look like two people who like each other.’ And we probably do,” Trump said, adding, “We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know, we just got along.”
The tone of their chat marked a notable departure from Trump’s previous rhetoric toward Obama, whom he spent years falsely accusing of not being born in the U.S. — a conspiracy theory known as “birtherism” that gained traction before Trump’s entry into politics.
Michelle Obama, in her 2018 memoir Becoming, called Trump’s promotion of the birther lie “crazy and mean-spirited,” writing that its “underlying bigotry and xenophobia [were] hardly concealed.” She said she would “never forgive” Trump for the fear his actions caused her family, especially daughters Sasha and Malia.
Though deep political and personal divides remain between the two men, the brief funeral exchange suggested a moment of levity — and possibly a thaw, however temporary, in one of the most contentious presidential rivalries in recent memory.
