Featured Image Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Police
Callum Jones
Donald Trump bizarrely compared a previous July 4th speech from himself to Martin Luther King Jr's well-known 'I Have a Dream' speech.
The president welcomed the press into the Oval Office on Thursday (April 23) and spoke to reporters about the renovations taking place at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
While Trump touched on some of the work being undertaken by his administration, and as is the case with a lot of speeches by the president, he went on a bit of a tangent.
Trump went on to claim more people attended his 2019 July 4th speech at the Lincoln Memorial than Luther King's famed 'I Have a Dream' speech in 1963.
Advert
"That’s where Martin Luther King gave his great speech, and he had a million people, and I had the same exact crowd, maybe a little bit more, but they said I had 45,000 people," the president told press.
"I have pictures of Martin Luther King’s crowd, my crowd, it’s the exact same everything, but it was 70 years difference."
Trump added: "The exact same crowd. I actually had more people, but that’s OK. They gave him, they gave him a million people."
The Republican president went on to say The White House 'has been in bad shape', before adding: "It’s right now, in better shape than it is, well, I think, since the day they built it. This is better right now."
Construction on a 9,000-square-foot ballroom has commenced in recent months, which will occupy the former East Wing of The White House residence.
Trump is set to welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla to The White House on Monday (April 27) for a three-day state visit.
"We're having King Charles come, he's a friend of mine. We're really looking forward to it, we've spoken and we're going to have a great time. I tell you, if we'd had that ballroom built it would be full. I wish we had more seats," Trump told reporters on Thursday.
The visit could well see tensions improve between the US and UK, with Trump hugely critical of British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in recent weeks after the UK refused to be drawn into the war in the Middle East.
Trump has said the King's visit to the US could 'absolutely' repair the relationship between the US and UK.
"He's fantastic. He's a fantastic man. Absolutely the answer is yes," he added.
"I know him well, I've known him for years. He's a brave man, and he's a great man. They would absolutely be a positive."