Ever wondered what POTUS Donald Trump’s like away from media and rallies? Stephen A. Smith, who was supposedly his political opponent, revealed it. On account of his October visit to the White House, he offered a rather unusual glimpse of the president behind closed doors.
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From renovation to self-assurance, Smith revealed it all
“He showed off everything. He showed off all the shit. I mean, the gold stuff that he had in there,” Smith said in conversation with Kevin Garnett on The KG & Stephen A. Show. Smith recalled Trump giving his guests a White House tour.
He attended the dinner alongside Bill Maher and Kid Rock.
“Then, in the process of us talking while he’s taking us for a tour, I looked at him. He had a picture on the wall, a colonnade right next to the Rose Garden; he first of all got rid of the grass and put hard flooring down in the Rose Garden; he said it was a mess; he said it was; he looked at me; he says, even the White House was a f******g dump; he said it was awful. He said, ‘Of course I needed to refurbish this. It was a disaster.’ He said they hadn’t done anything in a hundred years. ‘As usual, it takes somebody like me to get it done. That’s what it does, Stephen. That’s what it does.’”
Notably, given the nature of the surface beneath- soggy ground- the garden remained damp even days after the rain. Visitors and reporters often had their footwear stuck. Anyway…
But the president’s comments did not stop at the renovation.
Stephen A. Smith said Trump repeatedly interrupted their conversation with a declaration about his own legacy.
“You do understand I’m the greatest president who ever lived. You do understand, right? And I’m like, every time. He said it about ten times during the… You understand I’m the greatest president who ever lived.”
Smith found a fitting comparison in the 1999 sports drama Any Given Sunday. He likened Trump to Bill Bellamy’s character.
“It reminded me of Bill Bellamy in Any Given Sunday, where he didn’t have one line other than he had one line in the movie Any Given Sunday: I’m the greatest wide receiver that ever lived. Yeah, yeah. That was Trump. That was Trump.”
The conversation also came against the backdrop of Smith’s decision to attend the private dinner with Trump, Bill Maher and Kid Rock. Maher had extended the invitation, and the gathering reportedly lasted more than four hours.
Smith faced criticism for attending. But maintained that being in the room gave him an opportunity to raise issues he wanted the president to address.
Trump’s Rose Garden makeover and changing relationship with Stephen A. Smith
The Rose Garden renovation provides another layer to Stephen A. Smith’s story. In 2025, Trump replaced much of its central grass lawn with a white limestone patio, reportedly costing around $1.9 million and funded by private donations to the Trust for the National Mall.
The administration pointed to practical concerns, including muddy conditions and the garden’s soggy ground, which made the grass difficult to maintain and created problems for guests wearing formal footwear.
The renovation also reflected his preference for a more polished, hard-surfaced setting. Smith’s account, however, suggests that Trump was particularly keen to present the changes as proof of his own ability to improve the presidential residence.
There was also a political edge to the visit.
The dinner also marked a sharp change in Trump’s public attitude toward Smith. During the June 2026 NBA Finals, Trump attacked the veteran analyst, calling him an “arrogant fool” and “dumb as a rock” after Smith criticized him. Moreover, he also said, “You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does, actually.”
By October, however, Trump was describing Smith as “great” and “smart.”
Smith has since ruled out a presidential campaign in 2028, citing the complications surrounding time constraints and his broadcasting contracts. He has instead mentioned figures such as Josh Shapiro and Marco Rubio when discussing potential candidates.
For now, Smith’s most memorable takeaway from the White House visit is not a policy breakthrough or a political endorsement. It is Trump’s self-assurance, repeated throughout the evening, that he was the greatest president who ever lived.