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Hail to the king: Trump drops by Elvis Presley’s Graceland

March 24, 2026 | | Print Article

Checking in on crime reduction in Memphis, Tennessee afforded the president with a long-awaited opportunity as he soaked in “a part of history” with a trip to the home of the king.

Even before he was elected chief executive, President Donald Trump’s business career and celebrity often found him rubbing elbows with top figures in music, entertainment and sports. Though he lamented having never had the chance to meet Elvis Presley, Monday marked the president’s first trip to Graceland where he was bestowed with a “great honor.”

On the heels of a roundtable with the Memphis Safe Task Force to discuss the ongoing impact that crime reduction efforts were having in the Home of the Blues, Trump was transported the home-turned-museum complete with its own archive dedicated to preserving the history of Presley.

Shortly after being welcomed into the “second-most visited” house in America, the president opined on the crime statistics — “way, way down” over five months — and said, “Elvis would be very happy about that, right? I love Elvis … you know they all say, did you know Elvis. So, I knew Frank Sinatra, I knew most of ’em. Unfortunately, I never met Elvis — and that would be one I would’ve like a lot.”

Before the president, known for playing Presley’s music at his rallies,  was given a private tour of the home that features the entertainer’s helmet from the Army basic training, a gold-plated Social Security card and a gold phone, he said, “I think his music is incredible. I understood his life — his life was complicated … but he was terrific, and he was born with a voice that he never lost.”

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Worth noting as the entry where Trump addressed the media featured the posthumous Medal of Freedom he’d awarded Presley in 2018, TDS sufferers had attempted to peg the move as racist with claims the musician had “appropriated” rock and roll from black people.

Moments later, the commander-in-chief was invited to sit at the desk in the green-carpeted Jungle Room after he was presented a replica of the guitar used by the famed entertainer in his 1973 concert “Aloha from Hawaii.”

“That’s a big honor,” said the president who was asked to sign the guitar. Before scrawling out his John Hancock, Trump made sure to test the provided marker so as not to leave a sloppy signature on the guitar.

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It was there that details about Presley’s martial arts prowess were shared, leading the president to wonder, “Could I have taken him in a fight?”

As he departed Graceland and officially “left the building” on his way back to the White House, the president was asked for his thoughts on the experience he’d just had. To that, Trump said, “It’s great. It’s a part of history. Elvis is history and I think it was great.”

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“It was really nice,” he went on. “But it really is. It’s a part of hist- — it’s beyond music. So, I found it very interesting.”

Kevin Haggerty
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