Former U.S. Rep. Dave Trott may have discovered the origin of President Donald Trump’s claim he was awarded Michigan “Man of the Year."

Trump said he was honored with the award several times at campaign events in the last three years, most recently at a rally in New Hampshire Thursday. There is no evidence such an award exists, but Trott said the “false claim” can probably be traced back to a 2013 speech Trump made at the Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner.

Trott, an attorney and businessman, was chairman of the dinner and invited Trump to speak at the event. The future president drew a record breaking crowd -- summoning roughly 1,000 more attendees than when 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum spoke -- and gave a “rambling speech touching every topic under the sun” but didn’t receive any awards, Trott said.

Photos from the event taken by MLive.com show Trott handing Trump a framed copy of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, a statuette of the 16th president and a tie.

Lincoln Club President David Trott presents a framed Gettysburg Address to Donald Trump, keynote speaker, at the annual Oakland County Lincoln Day Dinner poses with school children from Detroit Country Day School. The event is a major Republican gathering in its 124th year, Tuesday night, May 21. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)

Several years later, Trott and Trump reunited at a round table discussion with automotive executives and union members in Ypsilanti.

Participants in the Ypsilanti roundtable included Gov. Rick Snyder, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the heads of several auto companies, including General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Sergio Marchionne of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Mark Fields of Ford Motor Company.

Trott reintroduced himself at the event thanked Trump for attending the Lincoln Day dinner. A video of the exchange is archived by FactBase’s Trump database.

“And I want to thank you, Dave,” Trump said. “It’s true, about five or six years ago I was given the Man of the Year (award) in Michigan. And I made a speech. I didn’t know I’d be doing this. I didn’t know I’d be running for president. I made a speech and I said, ‘Your car industry is being stolen from you.’”

“Is that right,” Trump said while motioning toward Trott.

“Great speech,” Trott replied.

Trott said he knew the award was farcical but didn’t want to embarrass the president.

“I sure wasn’t going to correct him in front of the automotive executives, so I just kind of nodded,” Trott said.

Trump said the people of Michigan never forgot his Lincoln Day speech, indicating his support for the state’s auto industry led to him becoming the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988. The president campaigned aggressively in the Great Lakes state on promises to revitalize manufacturing plants and bring back auto jobs offshored due to bad international trade agreements.

At the New Hampshire rally, Trump acknowledged people may find it odd he won the award.

“In fact five or six years before I thought about running, for some reason, they named me man of the year in Michigan,” Trump said. “I said ‘how come?’ I didn’t even understand it myself. When I was a man of the year, I wasn’t even political. That was years before I did this, but I was always complaining that our car business is being stolen.”

Trump referenced the mysterious award several times on the campaign trail since, but didn’t bring it up during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids earlier this year.

Trott said Trump’s experience at the Oakland County dinner may have inspired his 2016 campaign. An Oakland Press report from the 2013 event states Trump said people were asking him to run for president, but he wasn’t considering it at the time.

“He obviously enjoyed the evening and said it was a great event,” Trott said. “I think that kind of experience was one of the reasons he decided to run for president.”

Trump flew to the Oakland County event on his own dime.

“I was worried that he would ask us to pay for his jet fuel,” Trott said.