Stephen A. Smith left cringing as Donald Trump gives strong verdict on his presidential hopes

Donald Trump told an awkward Stephen A. Smith he would love to see him run for president one day after being put on the spot about his potential career in politics.

During a live phone interview for NewsNation, Trump was asked by former Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly if he had any advice for the ESPN star, who has emerged as a shock candidate for the Democrats in recent months.

And after cringing with his head in his hands while sat next to O'Reilly, Smith then received glowing praise from the president.

'Stephen A, he’s a good guy, he’s a smart guy. I love watching him,' Trump said.

'He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him. You know, a lot of these Democrats I watch... I say they have no chance.

'I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you I’d love to see him run.'

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Despite his kind words about him, Trump was grilled by Smith over his anti-DEI policies during the interview as the potential future rivals locked horns for the very first time.

'Your administration has issued executive orders dismantling DEI initiative across federal agencies, including revoking equal opportunity mandates and slashing funding for minority owned businesses,' the First Take personality argued.

'Critics argue these actions reverse decades of civil rights progress. So how do you justify these measures, and what message do they send to the marginalized communities?'

Trump, however, was quick to shut down his concerns about DEI initiatives.

'What we’re doing is we have a country that’s based solely on merit now, and that’s the way it is,' the 78-year-old responded.

'If somebody’s out there doing a great job - and this includes getting into colleges if you’ve worked really hard - and we don’t look at race.

'We don’t look at color, we don’t look at height or shortness or weight. If somebody is doing a good job and they worked and they got great marks, and they got great board numbers, and they get rejected at Harvard, which has been so disgusting, so horribly. I mean, so think of it.'

When a shock poll listed him as a possible Democratic candidate for 2028 earlier this year, Smith was quick to distance himself from running for president despite admitting he would consider doing so if the country demands it.

Nevertheless, after Trump sparked tariff mayhem at the start of the month, the sportscaster performed a dramatic U-turn.

Smith tweeted a link to a Barrett Media article where he revealed he is walking back on his claims he would never run for office.

'Time to stop messing around,' he wrote on X. 'Life is great. Especially at ESPN/Disney. Hate the thought of being a politician. But sick of this mess. So I’m officially leaving all doors open.'

In the Barrett Media article, Smith said: 'Over the last few weeks, I’ve had no choice but to get more serious about it.

'I’ve been approached by people on Capitol Hill. I’ve been approached by people who are elected officials in office, whether it’s governors or mayors or what have you. People have legitimately, seriously, asked me about it.

'I have no desire to be a politician, but I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to close that door. I’m gonna keep my options open. I’m going to entertain the possibility.

'If it comes in late 2026, 2027, where I look at this country and think it’s an absolute mess and there’s legitimate reason to believe … that I indeed have a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States. I am not going to rule it out.'

His comments come amid Donald Trump's controversial tariffs policy causing chaos on the stock market and threatening to cause an all-out global trade war.

Smith spoke exclusively to Daily Mail during the Super Bowl in New Orleans about his White House aspirations back in February.

He said: 'I will confess, like I said, I have no desire to do this, but assuming that I'm well off, that I have lots of money, and money is no longer a concern, if the American people came to me and looked at me and said "Yo, man, we want you to run for office", and I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States, I'm not gonna lie. I'll think about that.

'But I gotta have my money. I'm not gonna go to the White House broke. I'm not gonna do that. I gotta have my money.

'I gotta have my home. I gotta have my financial situation completely taken care of. I have no concerns if that happens for me.'