Trump claims Obama ‘guilty of treason'
Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. The former US president should be targeted directly by the Department of Justice, Trump stated when asked about the report released by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard last week that alleged Obama administration officials 'manufactured intelligence' to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia.
'This was treason. Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader. Hillary Clinton was right there with him, and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them: [former FBI Director James] Comey, [former DNI Director James] Clapper, the whole group,' Trump stated.
'They tried to rig an election, and they got caught. And then they did rig the election in 2020. And then because I knew I won that election by a lot, I did it a third time, and I won in a landslide,' he added.
Gabbard's report was 'like proof, irrefutable proof, that Obama was seditious,' the US president went on, accusing his predecessor of 'trying to lead a coup.' 'This is the biggest scandal in the history of our country,' Trump asserted.
The report, which includes over 100 declassified documents, suggests that Obama's spy chiefs discarded all intelligence assessments that found no Russian involvement and replaced them with fabricated claims, paving the way for the Russiagate probe, described by Gabbard as a 'years-long coup' against Trump.
Obama has strongly denied the allegations, reiterating his stance shortly after the latest Oval Office remarks by Trump. Gabbard's report contains nothing that 'undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,' Obama's office said in a statement.
'Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,' it stressed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
39 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Apple closes store in China for first time
US tech giant Apple has announced it will close one of its stores in China for the first time since entering the country more than 15 years ago. The pullback comes as sales in the company's second-largest market slide, local rivals gain ground, and trade tensions with the US continue to rise. Apple said on Monday it would shut its Parkland Mall store in the Zhongshan District of the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian on August 9. 'We have made the decision to close our store there,' Apple said in a statement cited by several media outlets. Apple had 57 stores in China last year, making up over 10% of its global retail network. However, it has been facing mounting challenges, with sales in the country falling for six straight quarters. Annual revenue dropped to $66 billion last year – nearly 10% below its 2022 peak. Chinese brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Vivo have steadily chipped away at Apple's share of the world's biggest smartphone market, the South China Morning Post wrote. According to tech research firm Canalys, Apple ranked fifth in China this spring with a 15% share – down from nearly 18% a year earlier. While the Dalian closure was officially linked to mall restructuring, analysts point to a deeper strategic shift. China, where most iPhones are assembled by suppliers like Foxconn, has been hit with the toughest US tariffs yet. In response, Apple has begun steadily shifting production to India and Vietnam to limit risk and cost pressures. Washington and Beijing have long been locked in a trade standoff. Tensions flared in April when US President Donald Trump imposed 145% duties on certain Chinese imports as part of a broader campaign targeting over 90 trading partners. Beijing hit back with 125% tariffs on US goods and export curbs. Trump later declared a truce after the series of tit-for-tat tariff hikes rattled global markets. This week, the two countries held a three-day summit in Stockholm with the aim of extending the tariff truce and easing economic tensions.
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
Taiwanese leader blocked from New York stopover
The administration of US President Donald Trump has refused to allow Taiwan's Lai Ching-te to stop over in New York on a planned trip to Central America, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the decision. The move reportedly followed objections from Beijing. Lai, who leads the self-governing Chinese island, had reportedly planned an August trip to Paraguay, Guatemala, and Belize, which formally recognize Taiwan's independence, with proposed stopovers in New York and Dallas. On Monday, however, Lai's office said no overseas travel was scheduled for the near future, citing recovery efforts from a recent typhoon and ongoing trade negotiations with the US. Sources told the FT that the change came after Lai was denied the New York stopover. It remains unclear whether the restriction applied solely to New York or to US transit in general. Several Western media outlets, including Bloomberg and Reuters, had previously reported on the planned trip and mentioned possible stopovers in the US. On Tuesday, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry denied that Lai had been blocked from transiting through the US. The ministry said no request had been refused and reiterated that Lai had no immediate plans for overseas travel due to domestic and diplomatic priorities. The reported transit block comes amid US-China trade talks. Shortly after returning to office in January, Trump escalated a trade war by imposing new tariffs and tightening export controls. China responded with retaliatory measures, although both sides recently agreed to pause further actions and set an August 12 deadline to reach a broader agreement. Self-rule was established in Taiwan by nationalist forces after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Only a small number of countries currently recognize the island's sovereignty, while most of the international community complies with Beijing's One-China policy. Tensions between China and the US over Taiwan remain a major flashpoint. Beijing strongly opposes any official contact between Washington and Taipei, which continues to maintain relations through arms sales, trade, and diplomatic exchanges.
Russia Today
10 hours ago
- Russia Today
US must recognize North Korea as a nuclear power – Kim's sister
The US must acknowledge that North Korea has permanently become a nuclear-armed nation, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has said. She also warned that personal ties between her brother and US President Donald Trump should not be used to compel Pyongyang to denuclearize. In a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, cautioned that any future dialogue should be based on 'the recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state.' Another prerequisite should be the understanding that Pyongyang's capabilities and geopolitical environment 'have radically changed' compared to Trump's first term, which saw historic US-North Korea diplomacy, she added. Kim said any effort to deny this reality 'will be thoroughly rejected' and that North Korea 'is open to any option in defending its present national position.' At the same time, she acknowledged that 'it is by no means beneficial to each other for the two countries possess[ing] nuclear weapons to go in a confrontational direction.' While acknowledging that 'the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present US president is not bad,' Kim warned that 'if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the US are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party.' 'If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, a DPRK-US meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the US side,' Kim concluded. Trump met Kim Jong-un three times between 2018 and 2019 in an effort to negotiate North Korea's denuclearization in exchange for security guarantees and economic relief. Despite the unprecedented diplomacy, no lasting deal was reached and talks stalled. North Korea is estimated to have around 50 nuclear weapons and insists that the arsenal is a vital deterrent against a potential incursion by the US and South Korea, which regularly hold military drills near its borders.
