President Trump appeared at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, 2026, and took the opportunity to dredge up old grudges about past elections while dropping a new piece of misinformation: He actually won the popular vote in 2016. While doing so, he also admitted his primary priority is his own ego.
Trump said, “They rigged the second election,” meaning 2020, and the baseless claim that he won. Then, referring to 2024, he added, “I had to win it.” He continued, “I needed it for my own ego. I would’ve had a bad ego for the rest of my life. Now I really have a big ego. Beating these lunatics was incredible … the first time they said I didn’t win the popular vote. I did.”
