"I would’ve enjoyed campaigning against Trump," Obama remarked. | AP Photo Obama: Running against Trump 'would've been fun'

A presidential campaign against Donald Trump "would've been fun," President Barack Obama said in an interview published Tuesday.

The wide-ranging interview covered everything from policy, to pop culture, to sports, to his favorite conspiracy theories about himself, Obama, who says he watches "Game of Thrones" while working out late at night, said his favorite character is "probably ... the dwarf," or Tyrion Lannister, played by Peter Dinklage.


"I remember the characters, so when I watch it, I know exactly what’s going on," he recalled in a GQ sit-down with HBO's Bill Simmons, formerly of Grantland. "But if you read a review of the show afterwards, and they’re mentioning such and such, the only one I remember is Jon Snow, because I can pronounce Jon Snow."

Asked which character Trump would be on the show, Obama demurred.

"Uh … I don’t think … I don’t think any of them rise to that level," he said.

"If you were campaigning against Trump, would you even bother? Would it be like LaBradford Smith talking trash to Jordan or something?" Simmons asked.

"I would’ve enjoyed campaigning against Trump," Obama remarked.

Later in the interview, Obama told Simmons that he had smoked zero cigarettes "in the last five years."

"I made a promise that once health care passed, I would never have a cigarette again. And I have not," Obama said, despite a stir earlier this year generated by a photo of him with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Obama also laughed off the Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theories that he was going to begin martial law to stay in office longer, remarking, "[a]nybody who thinks I could get away with telling Michelle I’m going to be president any longer than eight years does not know my wife."

Daughters Sasha and Malia are also apparently eager for their dad to leave the Oval Office.

"Not as much as Michelle, but certainly ready," Obama said.

The president also commented on the impression that he is feeling less burdened by the job now that he is well into his second term and does not have to face reelection.

"There’s no doubt that the longer I’m in this job, the more confident I am about the decisions I’m making and more knowledgeable about the responses I can expect. And as a consequence, you end up being looser," he said. "There’s not much I have not seen at this point, and I know what to expect, and I can anticipate more than I did before."

But that apparently does not mean he is willing to pick between his vice president (who is very much not running for his job) or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who certainly is).

"Which leadership style suits your vision of where America should go forward? Biden or Hillary?"

"Come on, Bill," Obama said with a laugh.