President Donald Trump is now denying a claim made by ex-Vice President Kamala Harris in her new book. 

Trump addressed the claim during a recent interview with the Fox News Channel, on "The Sunday Briefing."

First, we'll get you up to speed on what Harris wrote. Then, we'll look at Trump's response.

President Donald Trump pushed back on a claim in Kamala Harris' new book that he privately lauded her during her 2024 concession phone call, telling her she was a "tough, smart customer."

Not true, Trump says. https://t.co/6u9Bs2lOJI pic.twitter.com/QKn6CrzJnA

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) September 22, 2025

"Tough, smart customer"

The relevant remarks from Harris were reported by The Hill.

Per the outlet:

Harris also recounted the phone call in which she conceded the election to Trump in her memoir. In the call, she asked Trump to work to bring the country together.

The new book is titled "107 Days." The outlet reports that the book "describes Harris’s presidential campaign." It will be published in the coming days, and, to promote it, Harris has been doing a book tour.

The Hill continues by quoting Harris:

“I am going to be so nice and respectful,” Trump said, according to Harris. “You are a tough, smart customer, and I say that with great respect.” Harris wrote she knew then it was a lost cause.

This is one of multiple alleged conversations between Harris and Trump that Harris included in the book. In this conversation, Harris claimed that, during the call, she urged Trump to work to bring the country together, but she further said that, at the time, she had already known it was "a lost cause."

Did he really say that?

President Trump is now disputing some of what Harris wrote about him in her book.

Fox reports:

President Donald Trump rejected former Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim in her new book that he privately praised her during a concession phone call, saying he was cordial but never described her as a "tough, smart customer."

The outlet quotes Trump as saying, "[I didn't call her that] that I know of, but I was nice to her."

The president, during the interview, further revealed that he "met" Harris "a couple of times," adding that he "was always nice to her."

"I thought Kamala would have done a better job than she did in terms of running, because we really won by a lot. And I thought she would have done better," Trump said.