--- title: Donald Trump Got a Call From Bill Clinton in May description: Bill Clinton's aide confirmed the call. canonical: https://time.com/3986747/donald-trump-bill-clinton-phone-call/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-06T00:06:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:09.625Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bill Clinton Called Donald Trump in Late May og:description: The call occurred before Trump announced his candidacy for president og:url: https://time.com/3986747/donald-trump-bill-clinton-phone-call/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1b666b36ae699b/69885e21f887dcd1e8e91bdd/clinton-trump-phone-call.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2220 og:image:height: 1249 og:image:alt: Bill Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Clinton Called Donald Trump in Late May twitter:description: The call occurred before Trump announced his candidacy for president twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f1b666b36ae699b/69885e21f887dcd1e8e91bdd/clinton-trump-phone-call.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Got a Call From Bill Clinton Before He Announced His Candidacy > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  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. 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