Trump loves to give White House tours in which he - incorrectly - claims that Obama would spend the whole day watching basketball

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Trump loves to give White House tours in which he - incorrectly - claims that Obama would spend the whole day watching basketball

donald trump white house

White House/D. Myles Cullen

January 3, 2017: President Donald J. Trump walks down the West Colonnade of the White House

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  • Donald Trump reportedly loves to give White House tours - apparently more so than any other president before him.
  • During his tours, Trump will often speak about his predecessors, striking crass conversations about Bill Clinton's affair and making false claims that Barack Obama would spend the day watching basketball in the Oval Office.
  • According to some visitors interviewed by the Washington Post, Trump loves to talk about the improvements he's made to the White House, including new chandeliers and imported artwork.

Donald Trump apparently loves giving visitors extended tours of the White House - and drops a few outlandish claims during them from time to time.

For example, a group of visitors told the Washington Post that Trump claimed Barack Obama would spend the day watching television in the Oval Office in a small screen that has since been upgraded to a flat screen.

"He just sat in here and watched basketball all day," Trump reportedly said, adding that, when he got to the White House, the Oval Office was in "rough shape" and had a hole in the wall. A former White House official under Obama told the Post that none of these claims are true.

Trump loves to give tours of the White House, perhaps more than those who came before him. According to the Post, the president will invite acquaintances and strangers alike to show them around and brag about the different improvements he's made to it during his time there. Current and former White House aides told the Post that the president would show them around the house and point out the new chandeliers and artwork that he has brought in.

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Trump's love of tours is in line with his host-like persona. According to the Post, Trump would show off celebrity relics to guests when he still lived in New York's Trump Tower in New York. In his golf clubs, Trump loves to show off the conditions of his properties and the luxury of the food being served to guests.

Read more: Trump slams Howard Schultz after the ex-Starbucks CEO announces he's considering running for president

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told the Post that Trump is "The president is proud of the White House and its rich history."

According to the Post, Trump will invite members of Congress to the Lincoln Bedroom after dinners. According to a guest who once went in one of these tours, Trump will point out Lincoln's desk and bed and say "I don't know how he slept there," because Lincoln "was a really tall guy!"

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told the Post that most former presidents want to keep parts of the White House private for them and their families. But Trump, he said, is "very restless and doesn't like desk work."

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"He'd rather roam around and B.S. with people than hunker down," Brinkley said.

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