WASHINGTON (BN24) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday intensified his attacks against former President Barack Obama, accusing him of “treason” in connection with the U.S. intelligence community’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The accusation, made without evidence, marked Trump’s most aggressive rhetorical escalation against his Democratic predecessor since returning to office in January.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump seized on recent remarks by his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who last week threatened to refer Obama-era officials to the Justice Department over their role in producing a 2017 intelligence assessment that concluded Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump’s candidacy.
“They tried to steal the election,” Trump said. “This was treason. They did things nobody’s ever imagined, even in other countries.” He offered no supporting documentation to substantiate the claim.
Gabbard recently declassified a set of intelligence documents that she claimed show a “treasonous conspiracy” by senior Obama officials. Democrats and intelligence experts quickly dismissed the assertion as politically driven and lacking factual foundation. A spokesperson for Obama, Patrick Rodenbush, called Trump’s charges “bizarre,” “ridiculous,” and a “weak attempt at distraction.”
Despite Trump’s claims, the U.S. intelligence assessment produced in January 2017 and endorsed by multiple agencies, concluded that the Russian government sought to harm Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boost Trump through hacking, social media manipulation, and coordinated disinformation campaigns. The report found no evidence votes were changed or tampered with.
A separate bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report in 2020 found that Russia had leveraged individuals like Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and platforms like WikiLeaks to try to influence the election outcome. That report also found no indication that intelligence findings were politically manipulated—countering accusations now repeated by Trump and Gabbard.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed the Russia investigations as a “hoax” and has long claimed victimhood in what he terms a political witch hunt. He has recently amplified this narrative through social media, including reposting a doctored video showing Obama being arrested inside the Oval Office.
Trump’s remarks Tuesday also shifted quickly to attacking both Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when questioned about growing demands from his conservative base to release records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019. Instead of addressing the matter directly, Trump pivoted, claiming that “the witch hunt that you should be talking about” was led by Obama.
“It’s time to go after people,” Trump added. “Obama has been caught directly.”
Democratic Congressman Jim Himes rebuked Trump’s allegations, writing on X: “This is a lie,” and citing former Republican Senator Marco Rubio—now Trump’s Secretary of State—who had helped lead the Senate’s bipartisan inquiry that found no evidence of politicization in the intelligence community’s behavior.
Trump’s return to office has been marked by heightened attacks on his political adversaries and claims that federal institutions were weaponized against him during and after his presidency. He continues to assert that those behind the Russia investigation, the January 6 Capitol attack inquiry, and probes into his handling of classified documents conspired to undermine him.
Obama has remained a central target of Trump’s ire dating back to the false “birther” movement Trump helped promote in 2011. That conspiracy prompted Obama to release his long-form birth certificate to quell public doubt over his U.S. citizenship.
Trump has also revived unfounded claims against President Joe Biden, alleging that his administration signed official documents with an autopen without proper authorization. Biden has dismissed those accusations as “ridiculous.”
Gabbard’s allegations, now amplified by Trump, rest on a misrepresentation of U.S. intelligence. Documents she released show two separate assessments—one concluding Russia had not hacked voting systems, and the other, more significant, concluding Moscow used cyber tools to influence U.S. politics through data theft, leaks, and propaganda.
A subsequent review ordered by former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe raised questions about how the 2017 assessment was produced but reaffirmed the credibility of the classified CIA report that formed its core.
As Trump continues to lean into these allegations, the battle over the legacy of the 2016 election—and the role of the U.S. intelligence community—remains a charged flashpoint in his confrontational return to the White House.
