--- ---  # Donald Trump Got a Call From Bill Clinton Before He Announced His Candidacy  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 6, 2015 12:06 AM UTC  Former President Bill Clinton smiles after speaking at the NAACP's 106th Annual National Convention on July 15, 2015, in Philadelphia. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump greets supporters before he speaks at his South Carolina Campaign Kickoff Rally in Bluffton on July 21, 2015. Former President Bill Clinton smiles after speaking at the NAACP's 106th Annual National Convention on July 15, 2015, in Philadelphia. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump greets supporters before he speaks at his South Carolina Campaign Kickoff Rally in Bluffton on July 21, 2015.Matt Rourke—AP, Stephen B. Morton—AP  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 6, 2015 12:06 AM UTC Former President Bill Clinton privately called Donald Trump in late May when the real estate mogul was on the verge of announcing his 2016 bid for the presidency, t[he Washington _Post_ reported](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bill-clinton-called-donald-trump-ahead-of-republicans-2016-launch/2015/08/05/e2b30bb8-3ae3-11e5-b3ac-8a79bc44e5e2%5Fstory.html), citing four Trump confidants and one Hillary Clinton campaign associate—all wishing to remain anonymous. Bill Clinton’s personal office confirmed that the call occurred, [telling the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/05/donald-trump-and-bill-clinton-chatted-by-phone-before-trump-announced-candidacy/) “that Mr. Trump reached out to President Clinton a few times.” “President Clinton returned his call in late May,” the aide told the Times. “And, that while we don’t make it a practice to discuss the president’s private conversations, we can tell you that the presidential race was not discussed.” The four Trump sources, however, told the Post that Trump was candid about the run. The Clinton/Trump connection is one with some history. Trump has donated $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation and the Clintons were guests at Trump’s third wedding in 2005 to current wife Melania Knauss. Clinton also is a member of one of Trump’s golf courses. Neither the Trump campaign nor the Clinton campaign responded to requests for comment. Donald Trump Got a Call From Bill Clinton in May ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3986747/donald-trump-bill-clinton-phone-call/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3986747/donald-trump-bill-clinton-phone-call/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Got a Call From Bill Clinton Before He Announced His Candidacy","datePublished":"2015-08-06T00:06:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:56:29.747Z","description":"An aide to Bill Clinton confirmed the phone call occurred in late May.","url":"https://time.com/3986747/donald-trump-bill-clinton-phone-call/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Bill Clinton","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1b666b36ae699b/69885e21f887dcd1e8e91bdd/clinton-trump-phone-call.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1b666b36ae699b/69885e21f887dcd1e8e91bdd/clinton-trump-phone-call.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bill Clinton","caption":"Bill Clinton","creditText":"Matt Rourke—AP, Stephen B. Morton—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3986747/donald-trump-bill-clinton-phone-call/","name":"Donald Trump Got a Call From Bill Clinton Before He Announced His Candidacy"}}]}] ```