Just weeks before Donald Trump became a presidential candidate, he reportedly discussed his aspirations with former President Bill Clinton in a lengthy phone conversation.
Clinton and the business tycoon had a “casual chat” in late May about Trump’s appetite for more influence in the Republican Party and his potential bid for the White House, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
“Mr. Trump reached out to President Clinton a few times [and] President Clinton returned his call in late May,” one Clinton ally told the Post. “While we don’t make it a practice to discuss the president’s private conversations, we can tell you that the presidential race was not discussed.”
While Clinton may have avoided discussing the presidential campaign — presumably because his wife had declared her candidacy roughly one month prior — sources close to Trump were quoted as saying that the former Arkansas governor “listened intently and then analyzed Trump’s prospects and his desire to rouse the GOP base.”
Sources close to both parties were quoted as saying that the two-term president never encouraged Trump to jump into the race, but was visibly intrigued by his ambition and reportedly told the real estate magnate that he was “a rising force on the right.”
“One person with knowledge of Clinton’s end of the call said the former president was upbeat and encouraging during the conversation,” reported the Post.
Clinton and Trump have reportedly phoned each other in the past to discuss golf or the New York billionaire’s donations to the Clinton’s charitable organization.
Trump explained his reasons for donating to the Clinton Foundation during a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.
“As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” he was quoted as saying. “As a businessman, I need that.”
In 2005, both the former president and current Democratic front-runner celebrated Trump’s third wedding in Palm Beach, Fla.
Regardless of their history, neither Trump nor the former secretary of state have refrained from blasting each other during campaign appearances.
Clinton said in July that Americans shouldn’t be amused by the “hate [Trump] is spewing at immigrants and at families” and Trump has repeatedly dubbed Clinton the “worst secretary of state in the history of the U.S.”
