'Ridiculous': Trump challenges Obama's claim about women leaders

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump dismissed former President Barack Obama’s belief that governments would perform better under women’s leadership, calling the suggestion “ridiculous” during an exchange with reporters.

Obama had argued that giving women control of every government for two years could improve how countries are run, expressing confidence in the idea.

Trump responded to the former president’s remarks while speaking to reporters outside the White House on Saturday, September 26, before departing for a campaign visit to Tennessee.

Trump rejects Obama's argument about women leaders

Asked whether he agreed with Obama’s assessment, Trump said he admired women but rejected the idea that governments would perform better under their leadership.

“I love women. I think they're great, but what a ridiculous statement that is, right?” Trump told reporters. “Even you would say that.”

The exchange followed comments Obama made during a conversation with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin at Salem State University in Massachusetts on September 21. 

Obama recalled considering the idea while serving in the White House, suggesting that governments could be evaluated after women had been given the opportunity to lead for two years.

“Even when I was president, I sometimes fantasized about if you put women in charge of every government for like two years and then just kind of saw, all right, how are things going?” Obama said.

He acknowledged that such a hypothetical arrangement would not produce perfect governments but maintained that it could lead to better outcomes.

“I have a strong belief that things would - they wouldn’t be perfect. But they’d be better. I’m confident about that. I really do,” Obama said.

Obama made a similar argument in 2019

Obama’s remarks were not the first time he had expressed the belief that women’s leadership could improve government performance.

During a leadership event in Singapore in 2019, he made a similar argument, saying he believed countries would improve if women ran every country for two years.

Obama did not suggest that women would eliminate every problem facing governments. Instead, he explicitly acknowledged that the hypothetical would not produce perfect outcomes while maintaining that performance would improve.

The remarks circulated online after C-SPAN shared a clip of his conversation with Goodwin on Friday.

The video brought renewed attention to Obama’s views on female political leadership before Trump was asked about them.

Trump's response came during a separate political dispute

Trump’s exchange with reporters on Saturday also included questions about the administration’s ongoing dealings with Iran, as he prepared to travel to Tennessee.

The president said he had rejected Iran’s latest proposal, which had been conveyed to the United States during indirect negotiations in New York earlier in the week.

“They have made a proposal and I rejected it,” Trump said.

The negotiations involved US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Qatari officials participated as mediators, passing messages between the two sides.

Iran had proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks within a week if the United States lifted its naval blockade, removed sanctions on Iranian oil sales and reinstated a regional ceasefire.

The administration, however, demanded nuclear concessions from Iran. 

A US official described the discussions through mediators as “positive and constructive,” including on nuclear issues, as per Axios.

The two sides continued to disagree over the conditions for negotiations, with Iran seeking to focus on the Strait and the US blockade while Washington insisted on nuclear concessions.