Former President Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of revealing classified information after Obama stated in a recent podcast interview that he believes aliens are “real.” Trump made the claim aboard Air Force One on Thursday, stating, “He’s not supposed to be doing that,” and characterizing Obama’s comments as “a big mistake.”
The initial comments from Obama came during a quickfire question round with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen. He subsequently clarified his remarks, stating he believes it is statistically probable that life exists elsewhere in the universe, but that he had not personally seen any evidence of extraterrestrial life. “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51,” Obama said, adding that there was no secret underground facility hidden from the president.
Trump did not specify which of Obama’s statements he considered classified. In a follow-up post on Instagram, Obama reiterated that he had not encountered any evidence of extraterrestrial contact during his presidency, from 2009 to 2017. “Really!” he wrote.
The exchange between the two former presidents highlights a longstanding political antagonism. According to reports, there was no indication Obama relied on classified information when making his initial comments. The BBC has reached out to Obama’s office for further comment.
Trump himself stated he doesn’t have an opinion on the existence of aliens and doesn’t discuss the topic. This contrasts with a 2024 Pentagon report which found “no evidence” of the U.S. Government encountering alien life, concluding that most unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings were attributable to ordinary objects. A 2023 House of Representatives panel also examined unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), commonly known as UFOs.
Obama’s initial assertion that aliens are “real” reignited public debate on the topic, a discussion that past presidents have navigated in various ways, as detailed in a recent Axios report.
