Trump lauds 'piece of work' Jesse Jackson at 'sold-out' Black History Month event

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Trump lauds Jesse Jackson as 'hero' at White House Black History Month event

President Donald Trump lauded Jesse Jackson Feb. 18, 2026, from the White House after the civil rights activist's death.

President Donald Trump praised civil rights activist Jesse Jackson as a "real hero" during a White House Black History Month event Wednesday, just a day after Jackson’s death.

"I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. But he was a good man. He was a real hero," Trump said Wednesday, earning cheers from the audience. 

Trump hosted leaders from the Black community at the White House Wednesday to honor Black History Month. He remarked as the event kicked off that there was a "sold-out crowd" and that the White House ballroom under construction would accommodate far more people. 

Donald Trump and the Rev. Jesse Jackson with unknown singers from a hotel lounge act at a Tyson-Holmes pre-fight party at Trump Plaza Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., Jan. 22, 1988.  (Jeffrey Asher/ Getty Images)

Trump had lamented Jackson's death in a prior Truth Social post Tuesday, elaborating on Wednesday that their relationship got "better and better all the time."

"A lot of people you get to know, they get worse and worse. Jesse got better and better. But I knew him well long before becoming president, and he really was special with lots of personality, grit and street smarts," Trump continued. 

Jackson, 84, died Tuesday. His cause of death has not been publicly released, but he had suffered from health issues, including living with a rare neurological condition.

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Jackson was a two-time Democratic presidential candidate and longtime civil rights leader who joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s before King's assassination and was the founder of civil rights group Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. 

Donald Trump and Jesse Jackson attend a Tyson-Spinks boxing match June 27, 1988, at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

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"I will tell you, he was gregarious and someone who truly loved people and a force of nature who is somebody that we're going to greatly miss. And on behalf of everyone here today, I know you join me in sending our condolences to the entire family," Trump continued. 

The Rev. Jesse Jackson walks to the front of a weekly Friday peace walk led by St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham, Chicago, June 25, 2021.  (Vashon Jordan Jr./Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Wednesday's event included celebrating the legacy of Black Americans and economic wins under the Trump administration and Trump reigniting his 2025 announcement that former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who served during Trump's first term, would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  

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"Ben's getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's the highest award you can have outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor," Trump said.

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