MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — President Donald Trump, well-known for playing Elvis Presley's music at his rallies and drawing comparisons to the rock icon, shared on Monday his plans to visit Graceland, the legendary singer's residence, following an official meeting.
“I’m going to see Graceland after this, I think. Is that right?” Trump said during a session of the Memphis Safe Task Force. “I love Elvis.”
This visit to a beloved tourist site, sometimes regarded as the second most-visited private home in the U.S. after the White House, starkly contrasts with the serious national and international issues addressed at the meeting.
As citizens faced delays at security checkpoints across airports due to the deployment of federal immigration officers by Trump during a Homeland Security shutdown, he also touched upon military engagements abroad and the death of U.S. service members.
Graceland, a tribute to Presley which opened in 1982, is just a few miles away from Trump’s meeting venue. The estate welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, showcasing rooms preserved as they were at the time of Presley’s death in 1977.
While speaking with attendees, which included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump humorously admitted that sometimes he wanted to “tell a little fib” about having met Presley and expressed hope that his stay at Graceland would not be “very long” but desired to visit nonetheless.
Notably, Trump's campaign rallies frequently feature Presley’s hits such as “Suspicious Minds,” and he has indicated a personal connection to the singer over the years, even sharing images online that juxtaposed his face with that of Presley.
“We love Elvis. I shouldn’t say this, you’ll say I’m very conceited,” Trump has previously mused jokingly about any resemblance between himself and the late legend.
