Ep. 2048 - Trump Ranks the Best American Presidents

August 28, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Trump’s Power Rankings and the Art of Trolling

President Trump released a list ranking the best and worst American presidents, and conservatives are furious. FDR and Woodrow Wilson—two presidents many on the right consider disastrous—landed in the "great" category, while Calvin Coolidge, a conservative hero, was relegated to "below average." The list also included Trump himself as the greatest president of all time. But as Michael Knowles explains, the outrage misunderstands both what Trump was doing and what the list actually reveals.

The Lake America Strategy

Before diving into the presidential rankings, Knowles addresses another Trump move that has conservatives upset: renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. The context is Trump's trade dispute with Canada, and the renaming is part of a broader pattern of provocation. Knowles cites former National Security Advisor John Bolton—who worked closely with Trump and now despises him—to explain the method behind the madness. Bolton recalled Trump once telling him he capitalizes random words in his tweets not because he doesn't know the rules, but "because it drives them crazy." The same logic applies to renaming the lake: Trump is trolling Canada.

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of The Michael Knowles Show

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (02:10) **Show Open & JD Vance / Wall Street Journal Feud** - Michael introduces the episode and the brewing fight between JD Vance and the Wall Street Journal.
2 (03:55) **Lake Ontario Renamed to "Lake America"** - Trump renames Lake Ontario to "Lake America" as part of a trade dispute with Canada, and Michael defends the move as simple trolling.
3 (06:23) **John Bolton’s Take & Defending the Trolling** - Michael uses John Bolton's insider perspective to argue Trump's lake renaming is just trolling, and criticizes Republicans who are upset about it.
4 (10:28) **Trump’s Presidential Rankings List** - Trump posts a list ranking the greatest to worst American presidents, causing fury among conservatives for placing FDR and Woodrow Wilson in the "Great" category.
5 (14:16) **Interpreting the List: A Commentary on Power** - Michael argues the list is not about ideology or partisanship, but about how presidents wielded the power of the office.
6 (19:48) **Archaeologists Find "True Site" of Jesus' Tomb** - A new archaeological report claims to have uncovered the true site of Jesus' tomb, which is exactly where tradition has always placed it.
7 (25:52) **NBC News False Measles Death Report** - Michael exposes NBC News for falsely reporting that an infant died of measles in Pennsylvania, when the coroner said measles was not the cause of death.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Michael Knowles

Show Notes

President Trump ranks the greatest presidents and has conservatives irate, Lake Ontario becomes "Lake America," and archaeologists "discover" Jesus' tomb.

Ep. 2048

- - -

Today's Sponsors:

Cardiff - America’s favorite small business lender, provides the liquidity to move at the speed of business with same-day funding up to $500,000. Apply in under 3 minutes with zero credit impact.

Apply now at https://cardiff.co/knowles

PureTalk - At just $15 a month for your first three months on ANY plan… now’s a great time to choose PureTalk.

Simply go to https://PureTalk.com/KNOWLES to claim this offer.

PreBorn! - For just $28, PreBorn can provide one free ultrasound and help equip a new generation of parents to choose life and build strong families. To donate, dial #250 and say "BABY" or visit https://Preborn.com/knowles

- - -

DailyWire:

Click here to join the member-exclusive portion of my show: https://dailywire.com/subscribe

🎆 🇺🇸 Celebrate America 250 with 3-Months of DailyWire for just $17.76 📜

Becoming a Daily Wire member allows you to see all of our content ad-free.

📲 Download the free Daily Wire app today on iPhone, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, and more.

🍿 Run Hide Fight: Infidels will premiere on The Daily Wire, Wednesday September 16th.

📘 My book "Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds" is available here:

https://dwplus.shop/Speechless

📗 My book "Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide" is available here:

https://dwplus.shop/ReasonsToVoteForDemocrats

🕯️ Get your Michael Knowles candles:

https://thecandleclub.com/collections/michael-knowles

👕 Don’t dress like a squish. Shop my merch here:

https://dwplus.shop/MichaelKnowlesMerch

- - -

Socials:

YouTube — https://youtube.com/@MichaelKnowles

Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/michaelknowlesshow

Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/michaeljknowles

TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@notmichaelknowles

X — https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles

- - -

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices