Did Donald Trump admit in a speech, "I've done a shitty job as president"? No, that's not true: The president did say those words, but he was joking, and the quote was taken out of context. While announcing a new AI-powered government information hub, Trump was joking in response to tech executives who called it the "single biggest thing you've done in government."
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) by the @thedemocrats account on Instagram on Sept. 29, 2026. It read:
Trump is finally being honest about something.
In November, we can take away his power by voting Republicans out.
This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @thedemocrats on Instagram.)
This is what another image in the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @thedemocrats on Instagram.)
The president's comments came during the rollout of the revamped America.gov on Sept. 29, 2026. The AI-driven website is meant to simplify how Americans access information and services from government agencies. Trump did say, "I've done a shitty job as president," but the surrounding words show he was joking, not admitting failure. He was relating a story about what he said was feedback from tech executives about the site:
They say this is one of the most incredible things that your government has done. I don't think so, I think it's damn good. But somebody said, sir, this is going to be the single biggest thing you've done in government. I said, I don't think so, but it's damn good. OK? It's just another thing. Just another thing.
Sir, there's no question this will be the biggest thing you've ever... If it is the biggest thing I've ever done, I've done a shitty job as president. OK. But you know what? It's damn, it's damn good.
The president's comments (archived here) from Sept. 29, 2026, are embedded below:
