According to a CNN report citing information from the forthcoming book 'Regime Change' by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, President Donald Trump showed the authors a document during a March 2026 interview that compared his political power and influence to that of several historical rulers and authoritarian figures.

The document reportedly claimed that Trump was more powerful than leaders such as Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Adolf Hitler.Trump allegedly described the author as a presidential historian.However, Haberman and Swan later investigated the document's origins and found that it had not been written by a historian.Instead, CNN reported that the author was the longtime caddy and confidant of professional golfer Gary Player.

According to the account, the caddy first shared his views with Player and later discussed them directly with Trump during a golf outing in Florida before providing the written document.The story gained additional attention after Trump posted a quotation from the document on Truth Social, attributing it to a person named David King.

The attribution reportedly caused confusion among several individuals with the same name, including a Harvard-affiliated David King who contacted Raw Story seeking a correction.Trump did not provide further identifying information about the author but publicly endorsed the remarks, responding, “Sounds good to me!” on social media.

The report highlights questions about the provenance of material shared by the president and the circumstances surrounding the document's authorship and promotion.