President Trump revived an odd anecdote in the Rose Garden about electric boats, submerged batteries and nearby sharks, a story he first used on the 2023 campaign trail. He said a boat manufacturer told him "nobody's ever asked" whether flooded batteries could electrocute passengers and insisted he'd rather risk electrocution than swim toward sharks. The tale has been repeated at several rallies and drew media criticism; the campaign defended it as "not crazy." During the same address, Trump also fumbled an aside about duck hunters.
Trump, 80, Recycles Bizarre Shark-and-Electric-Boat Anecdote in Rose Garden
Yet another audience was made to sit through Trump's shark tale. / MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump, 80, returned to a familiar and oddball anecdote during a Rose Garden event on Thursday, repeating a story about electric boats, submerged batteries and nearby sharks that he first used on the 2023 campaign trail.
Sharks: hated by the president. / Makhbubakhon Ismatova / Getty Images
Speaking about new executive orders on hunting and fishing, Trump described a conversation with a mid-size boat manufacturer about the challenges posed by heavy batteries for electric propulsion. He said the manufacturer told him the battery weight was "enormous" and that nobody had previously asked whether flooded batteries could electrocute passengers if a vessel sank.
Trump made Vance listen to the story the first time they campaigned together in Grand Rapids in July 2024. / Tom Brenner / REUTERS
His Hypothetical
Trump pushed the scenario further, asking whether one should remain in the boat and risk electrocution or jump into the water where sharks might be waiting. He quoted the manufacturer as saying, "Nobody's ever asked me that question," and declared his own preference: he'd rather risk electrocution than swim toward sharks.
DUCK! / picture alliance / dpa/picture alliance via Getty I
"So if I'm in an electric boat and I see them going down and the water's pouring in . . . do I get electrocuted or not? . . . If there was a shark about five yards away — do I take the electrocution or do I go swimming with the sharks? I'll take the electrocution, OK? I'll take the electrocution."
Repeated On The Trail
Trump first told the anecdote publicly in October 2023, saying the exchange took place in September 2023 with a South Carolina boat manufacturer. He repeated the vignette at rallies in November 2023 (Houston) and multiple times in 2024, including a June event in Las Vegas where he placed a shark "about 10 yards" from the boat, and a July rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he again said, "I'll take electrocution all day long."
The anecdote drew widespread media attention and online mockery. The campaign pushed back: in July 2024, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told The Washington Post the story was "not crazy" and called it "sort of a smart story."
An Aside About Duck Hunters
During the same Rose Garden appearance, Trump stumbled through an aside about supporting duck hunters, saying, "And we also strongly support your duck hunters," then adding in a muddled manner that he had won their support — joking that if there had been 150 percent of votes available he would have taken them.
Trump has previously expressed a dislike of sharks; in 2013 he tweeted, "Sorry folks, I'm just not a fan of sharks. And don't worry, they will be around long after we are gone." The Daily Beast said it contacted the White House for comment on Thursday's remarks.
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