WASHINGTON — President Trump has an unexpected defender: Jimmy Carter.

“I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I’ve known about,” Carter told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. "I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.”

Carter also defended Trump against claims that the current president's aggressive style is souring U.S. relations with the world. “Well, he might be escalating it but I think that precedes Trump,” he told the Times. “The United States has been the dominant character in the whole world and now we’re not anymore. And we’re not going to be. Russia’s coming back and India and China are coming forward.”

Perhaps Carter is seeking to placate Trump as part of a job interview: The 93-year-old former president said he is willing to undertake a diplomatic mission to North Korea to discuss its nuclear weapons program.

Carter told the Times he had discussed the North Korea issue with H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser.

“I told him that I was available if they ever need me,” Carter said.

While Carter's comments about the media might please Trump, an ex-presidential couple might not be too happy with the Times interview: Bill Clinton and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"We voted for (Bernie) Sanders" in the primary, Carter said.

Presidents who succeeded Carter, including Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, have all chafed at the Georgian's various comments on the issues of the day.

At one point during Obama's tenure, Carter complained that the incumbent president never sought his advice, and he told the Times he still doesn't have Obama's email address.