- By Sakshi Srivastava
- Wed, 23 Jul 2025 11:25 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Trump vs Obama: Former US President Barack Obama has issued a rare and forceful response to Donald Trump’s accusation of “treason”, calling it a baseless and bizarre attempt to distract from the scandals engulfing the current administration.
The war of words erupted after Trump, during a press event on July 22, 2025, accused Obama of orchestrating a conspiracy to undermine his 2016 campaign by faking intelligence about Russian interference. In a statement released by Obama’s spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush, the claims were branded “outrageous,” “ridiculous,” and “a weak attempt at distraction.” “These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” the statement read. “Out of respect for the presidency, we typically don’t respond to misinformation from this White House. But this one merits a response.”
Trump’s Allegation
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said: “It would be President Obama. He started it. It’s there, he’s guilty. This was treason.” He claimed, without evidence, that Obama and his senior officials had manufactured intelligence reports to falsely tie his campaign to Russian operatives. Trump’s remarks leaned heavily on a controversial report released by his current Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who accused Obama-era officials of engineering a “coup” against Trump through manipulated intelligence. Gabbard’s claims, however, have been widely discredited across party lines and contradict findings from multiple independent investigations.
What Multiple Investigations Concluded
Obama’s team pointed to the 2017 US intelligence assessment and the 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report, both of which concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to aid Trump, but did not alter vote counts.
The 2020 Senate report, led by Republican Marco Rubio, stated: "The Russian intelligence services' assault on the integrity of the 2016 US electoral process, and Trump and his associates' participation in and enabling of this Russian activity, represents one of the single most grave counterintelligence threats to American national security in the modern era," the report said. Despite the evidence, Trump has repeatedly called the Russia probe a “hoax” and now appears to be escalating the narrative by targeting Obama directly.
A Distraction From Mounting Pressure?
The Obama camp believes Trump’s outburst may be politically motivated, particularly as he faces pressure from his conservative base to release documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Critics argue that the treason claim is a diversionary tactic to shift focus away from growing scrutiny around Trump’s actions and his social media activity—including his recent reposting of an AI-generated video showing Obama being arrested. Obama’s spokesperson directly alluded to this: “The timing of these allegations makes it clear—this isn’t about justice, it’s about distraction.”
