And it’s accurate, although not exactly romantic.
The revelation came as Trump spoke about military recruitment during an event in Iowa on Thursday.
“One year ago, I remember saying to our great first lady, I said, you know, ‘first lady,‘” he said. “I call her ‘first lady’ because it makes me feel good. ‘First lady.’ Isn’t it terrible? Saying, ‘Good night first lady, my darling?’”
But he said the pet name is important for a reason.
“Because it reminds me that I’m president,” he said. “That’s why. Now, I said, ‘First lady, it’s terrible. Nobody wants to join our military force.’”
Trump then took credit for a bump in military enlistments, although CBS News reports that numbers have been rebounding from pandemic-era lows since before he won last year’s election.