Donald Trump and the Rev. Jesse Jackson with unknown singers from hotel lounge act at Tyson vs Holmes pre-fight party at Trump Plaza Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jan. 22, 1988. (Jeffrey Asher/ Getty Images)
Trump had lamented Jackson's death in a prior Truth Social post Tuesday, elaborating on Wednesday that the pair's 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 identified, 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 his assassination, and was the founder of civil rights group, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson walks to the front of the "Invading our community with peace" 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, economic wins under the Trump administration, as well as Trump reigniting his 2025 announcement that former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who served under 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.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-lauds-piece-work-jesse-jackson-sold-out-black-history-month-event