Trump claims ex-presidents told him they should've built border wall. They didn't.

All four living ex-presidents — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama — have dismissed the claims

Former US presidents (from left to right) Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in 2017 (Jim Chapin/AFP/Getty Images)

All four living ex-presidents have denied Donald Trump;s claim that "some" ex-presidents told him—in confidence— that they should’ve built a border wall during their administration.

During a speech at the White House Rose Garden, Mr Trump reiterated his $5.6 billion demand for a steel wall on the US-Mexico border to end the partial government shutdown that has gone well over two weeks.

He then said that ex-presidents have told him secretly that they should’ve built the wall.

“This should have been done by all of the presidents that preceded me and they all know it,” Mr Trump said. “Some of them have told me that we should have done it.”

But as of Tuesday, all of the living former presidents have denied making such statements to Mr Trump.

Former President Jimmy Carter, 93, released a statement tweeted by the Carter Center on Monday afternoon disputing Mr Trump’s claim.

“I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue,” Mr Carter said.

Former President George W. Bush, through his spokesman Freddy Ford, also said he never discussed a border wall with Mr Trump. The 72-year-old has also been vocally critical of the president, calling him a “blowhard,” and saying “I don’t like him” in his most recent book.

Former President Bill Clinton, 72, also dismissed the idea of having spoken to Mr Trump. “He did not,” Mr Clinton’s spokesman Angel Ureña said, when asked if he discussed the border wall with the current president. “In fact, they’ve not talked since the inauguration.”

While Mr Trump's immediate predecessor, Barack Obama did not directly deny the remark, a spokesman passed along remarks Mr Obama has previously made calling the wall unnecessary.

"A nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself," Mr Obama told the assembled representatives of the UN's member states in September 2016.

Regardless, it is unlikely Mr Obama would defend Mr Trump's remark. He has been vehemently opposed to the idea of a border wall in public since the start of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The 57-year-old condemned Mr Trump’s border wall concept, calling it antithetical to American history of attracting and growing from “strivers” in his May 2016 commencement address at Rutgers University, CNN reported.

“Suggesting that we can build an endless wall along our borders, and blame our challenges on immigrants -- that doesn’t just run counter to our history as the world’s melting pot,” Mr Obama said to a cheering crowd. “It contradicts the evidence that our growth and our innovation and our dynamism has always been spurred by our ability to attract strivers from every corner of the globe.