Donald Trump is better known for maligning his predecessors in the highest office in the land than praising them.
But as five surviving former presidents gathered Saturday at a benefit concert for the victims of the hurricanes that tore through the U.S. this summer, the sitting president sent a video message in which he praised their "wonderful" work and expressing his "deep gratitude."
"To Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Melania and I want to express our deep gratitude for your tremendous assistance," Trump says in the message. "This wonderful effort reminds us that we truly are one nation under God, all unified by our values and our devotion to one another."
Barack Obama, who left office in January, was joined on stage by his predecessors George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
No reference was made to the veiled criticism of Trump's administration in speeches from Obama and Bush Jr. last week, with Bush taking aim at Trump's 'America First' policies.
"We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America," Bush told an audience in New York.
The former White House residents came together for the One America appeal concert in College Station, Texas, which raised money for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
So far, the appeal has raised $31 million.
The presidents launched the appeal after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas in August, devastating Houston with flooding and causing billions of dollars in damage.
The appeal was expanded after Hurricane Irma hit Florida weeks later, and Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico.
"As former presidents, we wanted to help our fellow Americans begin to recover," Obama explained to concertgoers in a pre-recorded message.
George W. Bush added: "People are hurting down here but as one Texan put it, we've got more love in Texas than water."
The five former presidents appeared on stage for the anthem, before taking their seats for performances by stars including Lady Gaga and Lee Greenwood.
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