President Donald Trump may have found an unlikely ally in Jimmy Carter.

Some might think Carter, a Democrat, would hold much different political viewpoints than Trump. But the 93-year-old former president told The New York Times he would be up for a diplomatic mission on behalf of the current administration, going to North Korea to help address Pyongyang's nuclear pursuits.

During his interview with Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd, Carter said the U.S. has overestimated the influence China has on North Korea – a comment that comes as Trump repeatedly has called on Beijing to rein in the Hermit Kingdom. Yet he also defended Trump when asked about what Dowd described as the president's "souring our image in the world," responding that Trump "might be escalating" things but that the issue preceded his time in the Oval Office.

"The United States has been the dominant character in the whole world and now we’re not anymore," Carter said. "And we’re not going to be. Russia’s coming back and India and China are coming forward.”

The interview isn't the first time Carter has defended the president. In September, he expressed optimism about Trump's approach to immigration law, saying the president might actually be able to achieve movement on the issue, according to The Associated Press. In those comments, Carter also said Trump deserves credit where credit is due.

With Dowd, Carter shared his thoughts on a range of issues, from North Korea to the role of the media. Here's a look at some of his key comments.

1. On whether he would go to North Korea on behalf of the Trump administration amid rising tensions:

"I would go, yes," Carter told the Times.

Carter said he has talked with Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, but has so far gotten what Dowd described as "a negative response."

"I told him that I was available if they ever need me," he said.

2. On former President Barack Obama:

"He made some very wonderful statements, in my opinion, when he first got in office, and then he reneged on that," Carter said of Obama and the Middle East.

Carter was also tough on Obama's work with North Korea, saying he had "refused" to talk to the Hermit Kingdom more. And he lamented U.S. involvement in the conflict in Yemen under the Obama administration.

Carter told the Times he does not have Obama's email address, and that he had his "best relationship" with George H. W. Bush when Bush was in office.

3. On the media's coverage of the 45th presidency:

"I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I've known about," he said.

Carter said he thinks members of the news media "feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation." But he didn't give Trump a complete pass, saying he thinks the president is "exacerbating" racial division in the country.

"Yes, I think he is exacerbating it," he told the Times. "But maybe not deliberately."

4. On his preferred candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination:

"We voted for Sanders," Carter said of how he and and his wife, Rosalynn, voted during the 2016 Democratic primary, aligning with what he has said in the past.

Carter and his wife, however, disagree on the effect of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. While Rosalynn Carter said the Russians "obviously did" steal the election from eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Carter said he doesn't think "there's any evidence that what the Russians did changed enough votes, or any votes."

5. On the controversy over NFL demonstrations during the national anthem to protest racial discrimination and police brutality:

"I think they ought to find a different way to object, to demonstrate. I would rather see all the players stand during the American anthem," he said.

But the public debate over removing Confederate monuments was less clear for the former president.

"That's a hard one for me," Carter said, adding that his great-grandfather and relatives fought on the Southern side in the Civil War. "I never have looked on the carvings on Stone Mountain or the statues as being racist in their intent. But I can understand African-Americans' aversion to them, and I sympathize with them. But I don't have any objection to them being labeled with explanatory labels or that sort of thing."