U.S. President Donald Trump has accused former President Barack Obama of “treason,” citing a controversial report that alleges Obama-era officials manipulated intelligence related to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The accusation stems from a newly submitted report by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to the Justice Department. The document claims the Obama administration orchestrated a “treasonous conspiracy” by allegedly fabricating intelligence to implicate Russia in supporting Trump’s 2016 campaign.
According to Gabbard, this alleged fabrication laid the foundation for what she described as a “years-long coup attempt” against Trump. However, these claims contradict the findings of multiple official investigations—including four criminal, counterintelligence, and watchdog probes conducted between 2019 and 2023—that confirmed Russia did interfere in the 2016 election in favour of Trump.
“It’s there. He’s guilty. This was treason,” Trump said on Tuesday. “They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever imagined, even in other countries.”
When asked during a joint press briefing with visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos who should be prosecuted, Trump responded:
“Based on what I read — and I read pretty much what you read — it would be President Obama. He started it.”
Trump also named other former officials as part of the alleged plot, including then-Vice President Joe Biden, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan. He called Obama the “leader of the gang” and insisted he was guilty of treason.
Trump’s remarks follow criticism for recently sharing an AI-generated video that depicted Obama being arrested.
Despite Trump’s repeated claims that investigations into Russian interference were politically motivated, bipartisan findings have consistently stated otherwise. Notably, a 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report—led by then-acting Chairman Marco Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State—concluded that Trump’s 2016 campaign actively sought to benefit from Democratic documents leaked by Russian military hackers.
The committee wrote:
“The Russian intelligence services’ assault on the integrity of the 2016 U.S. electoral process, and Trump and his associates’ participation in and enabling of this Russian activity, represents one of the single most grave counterintelligence threats in modern U.S. history.”
