Barack Obama is weighing in on President Donald Trump’s alleged “obsession” with him.
“You gotta ask him what it is … the obsession,” Obama, 64, said when asked about Trump’s “fascination” with him on the Wednesday, June 24, episode of Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s “All the Smoke” podcast.
“I obviously have a room in his head,” the former president continued. “A suite in his head. … First of all, when I was president, the last thing I had to do was worry about what someone said or what my predecessor did. They’re gone. I’ve got work to do.”
Obama, who served as the 44th president from January 2009 to January 2017, pointed out that “if you’re doing the job right,” a U.S. leader would have “five, 10 things that are real hard” to do every day.
“And you have to be constantly focused,” he noted. “The idea that I would be worried about somebody who came before, and me trying to measure, ‘What’s he done today?’ … [It’s] a strange thing to me. It shows me somebody who’s not focused on the American people and the job they’re supposed to do.
Obama said he learned “pretty early” in his presidency to “screen out the noise in order for you to understand what’s in front of you and deal with it well.” He added that he’s “not even worried” about engaging with the comments that Trump, 80, has made about him.
Trump, who served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021 before returning to office as the 47th president last year, has thrown several jabs at Obama over the years. Earlier this month, he took to his Truth Social account to share an edited image depicting the Obama Presidential Center, a museum, library and education project in Chicago, as a trash can ahead of its opening on Juneteenth.
Obama appeared to make a subtle dig at Trump without naming the president during his speech at the June 18 opening ceremony, warning attendees about “ruthless” and “careless” leaders.
Barack’s wife, Michelle Obama, also made what many perceived to be a jab at Trump during her own speech at the opening ceremony, noting that her husband won the “peace prize.” (Barack won the Nobel Peace Prize award in 2009, while Trump lamented not winning the award last fall. He was subsequently gifted the medal by the actual winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, despite the award not being officially transferable.)
Michelle, 62, has frequently criticized Trump’s actions in office and his worldview. In November 2025, she expressed disappointment and confusion over Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House, where she and other first ladies before her took office.
“It’s not about me. It’s about us and our traditions and what they stand for,” she said on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show” podcast. “I think in my body, I felt confusion because I’m like, ‘Well, who are we? What do we value and who decides that?’ That’s the thing that’s going through my head a lot lately.”
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