Sen. Orrin Hatch thinks Donald Trump is the greatest U.S. president ever. According to Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump made the claim about Mr. Hatch’s opinion Thursday in a speech to congressional Republicans in West Virginia, where GOP lawmakers are holding a policy retreat.

“Orrin is — I love listening to him speak … he actually once said I’m the greatest president in the history of our country and I said, ‘does that include Lincoln and Washington?’ He said, ‘yes.’ I said, ‘I love this guy,’” Mr. Trump recounted.

When Newsweek asked Mr. Hatch’s office to confirm, a spokesman recounted the senator saying some similar-sounding words with a different meaning.

Mr. Hatch “has said that he would like to work with the president to make this the greatest presidency in history for the American people,” the spokesman said.

Newsweek also linked to a November tweet from Mr. Hatch, the longest-serving Republican in the chamber, in which the Utahn engaged in some dry humor.

“To be fair, he’s the best President I’ve served ‘under’ in terms of line of succession. If we’re talking best Presidents I’ve served alongside, that list would also include Lincoln, Reagan, and James K. Polk, who really knew how to command a room,” Mr. Hatch wrote in reference to the current president.

The White House had no immediately comment, Newsweek reported.

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