Trump Visits Graceland and Signs Replica Guitar: ‘I Love Elvis’
President Donald Trump stopped at Graceland before returning to Washington, D.C., on Monday following a Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable in Tennessee.
Trump told reporters how much he admired Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll, and his music.
“I love Elvis. Elvis, you know, they all say, ‘Did you know Elvis?’ I knew Frank Sinatra. I knew most of them. Unfortunately, I never met Elvis, and I would have loved to, but I love his music,” Trump said.
Trump told reporters this was his first-ever visit to Graceland.
“I’ve never been here, no. I’m just a big Elvis fan. Who’s not right? But I think he’s great. I think his music is amazing. I understood his life. His life was complicated. It was complicated, but he was great,” Trump said.
“He was born with a voice that he never lost, right? He had other difficulties, but he never lost his voice,” he added.
Trump highlighted Presley’s relationship with his mother.
“Well, he loved his mother and father so much, but he really loved his mother, and I think when his mother left, it was very hard for him,” Trump said.
Trump was also asked to sign a replica of the guitar Presley played at the “Aloha from Hawaii” concert in 1973.
The president called it a “great honor.”
Shortly before the ruling, the president touted the progress the Memphis Safe Task Force had made in fighting crime.
Compared to the same time last year, Memphis saw a 67 percent drop in motor vehicle thefts, a 51 percent drop in thefts, a 38 percent drop in sexual harassment, a 35 percent drop in homicides and a 32 percent drop in burglaries.
“There was on average much more than one murder per day, with a higher crime rate than in Colombia, Mexico City or Baghdad… I shouldn’t say that, but here’s the good news: It’s fixed, okay? I hate saying that because it’s so negative,” the president noted during the roundtable.
