Former U.S. President Donald Trump has called for the arrest of Barack Obama, accusing him of treason and election interference. Trump made these claims during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
Trump alleged that Obama led a “seditious conspiracy” to sabotage his 2016 campaign. He said the former president and his team tried to “steal the election” through politically motivated intelligence actions.
“The leader of the gang was President Obama,” Trump told reporters. “This was treason. They did things nobody imagined.”
Trump’s latest remarks came after a press release last week by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard, once a Democratic congresswoman, now plays a key role in Trump’s second-term administration.
In the release, Gabbard claimed there was “overwhelming evidence” that Obama’s national security officials manipulated intelligence reports in 2016. She said their goal was to “usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people.”
She added that documents were being sent to the Department of Justice for criminal referral.
Independent analysts and some lawmakers have questioned the credibility of these claims. Critics argue that Gabbard misrepresented intelligence records and disregarded the findings of past investigations.
In 2017, U.S. intelligence agencies reported that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump. However, they found no evidence of vote tampering or direct manipulation of the voting systems.
A separate investigation in 2019 found no criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Still, the report confirmed that Russia’s actions were “sweeping and systematic.”
Despite this, Trump continues to call the investigations politically driven. He supported Gabbard’s referral and said there should be “very severe consequences.”
Obama’s office responded to the accusations, calling them “bizarre.” It reaffirmed the conclusion that Russia acted alone and no votes were changed.
On Capitol Hill, reactions were divided. Senator Mark Warner criticized Gabbard for politicizing the intelligence community and supporting conspiracy theories.
Meanwhile, Trump posted an AI-generated video of Obama in handcuffs. He claimed it was “proof” of a coup attempt.
While no official investigation has started against Obama, Gabbard’s referral is under review. Legal experts say proving criminal charges would be difficult without solid evidence.
In other political developments, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi was acquitted while Yasmin Rashid received a 10-year sentence in the May 9 riots case. Read full story here.
