President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will be attending the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Trump stopped to talk to reporters as he made his way into his Mar-a-Lago estate for his New Year’s Eve bash. When asked whether he’ll be attending the funeral, he said, “I’ll be there” and that he was invited.
He said he would rather not comment on whether he’s spoken to members of the Carter family.
Mr. Carter’s funeral is set for Washington on Jan. 9. He will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol from Jan. 7 to 9.
Mr. Trump often used Mr. Carter on the campaign trail as a way to denigrate President Biden’s record.
On multiple occasions he said Mr. Biden was a worse president than Mr. Carter, and said the Georgia peanut farmer would be “happy” to have Mr. Biden follow him because, by comparison, his 1977-81 term as president was “brilliant.”
Shortly after the announcement Sunday that Mr. Carter had died at the age of 100, Mr. Trump shared two statements on Truth Social.
“I just heard of the news about the passing of President Jimmy Carter. Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” he wrote in one post. “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”
In a second post he talked about how he “strongly disagreed with [Mr. Carter] philosophically and politically,” but that he “also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for.”
“He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect. He was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed. He was also very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office,” he wrote.
In other remarks on New Year’s Eve, Mr. Trump said he thinks House Speaker Mike Johnson will triumph in the new Congress’ speaker vote on Friday, saying that “I think we’re going to have a great time in Washington and I think we’re going to get great support.”
He also called the Louisiana Republican a “good man [and] a very wonderful person.”
When asked about a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Mr. Trump said, “we’re going to see what happens,” adding that the Islamist terror group “better let the hostages come back soon.”
He said 2025 will be a “great year” and that he thinks the country will do “fantastically well.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.