Trump resurrects calls to arrest Barack Obama, accuses him and others of ‘treason’ in late-night posts

“This isn’t just false; it’s reckless,” former DOJ official Anthony Coley tells theGrio after President Trump’s Truth Social posting spree.

President Donald Trump has resurrected his public rebuke of former President Barack Obama, accusing his predecessor of “treason” and calling for his arrest.

In a series of late-night Truth Social posts, the ever mercurial president renewed scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s criminal investigation of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia’s election interference.

President Trump reposted a Newsmax segment of former Trump campaign advisory board member Jason Meister calling out America’s first Black president as a “criminal.”

“I hate to say this, but President Barack Obama…there’s now incontrovertible evidence that he was the spearhead of a seditious conspiracy to subvert the will of the American people and overthrow the United States government back in 2016,” said Meister. “We must hold every single one of these criminals accountable.”

Trump shared another post of a 2020 Fox News segment reporting about declassified notes from former Obama Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan, who reportedly briefed President Obama in 2016 on then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s intent to “vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.”

The post was a re-share from an account called “The SCIF,” which captioned, “Hillary Clinton funded, approved, and created Steele Dossier, Barack Obama called the shots, and Brennan’s CIA did the dirty work. The evidence is clear, TREASON was committed, and now they must pay or they will do it again.”

Another post was a re-share of an X post that read, “I hope they arrest you before your grand opening of your war bunker in southside Chicago,” referring to President Obama’s June 19 opening of the Obama Presidential Center.

The 2016 Trump-Russia investigation, like Trump’s conspiracy that his 2020 election loss was “rigged” against him, has been a political obsession for the president.

In July 2025, Trump reignited calls for the arrest of Obama and former Obama officials, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016 election. The push came after Trump’s loyalist, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, released declassified documents revealing communications within the Obama administration. Memos showed that Obama requested an assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the foreign adversary’s connections to the Trump campaign.

A U.S. president being briefed about national and foreign intelligence or requesting more information is not a crime, and despite DNI Gabbard claiming she made a criminal referral to the DOJ, no indictments have been made against President Obama or any former Obama official.

It is well-documented that several former Trump campaign staff engaged in communications with Russian officials, including Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Additionally, intelligence reports revealed that Russia engaged in a sophisticated interference campaign that included extracting voter registration data in at least two states, and online interference campaigns—including a troll farm targeting Black voters. Analysis of Russia’s interference campaign concluded that it was an effective voter suppression tool.

A DOJ special counsel investigation of the 2016 Russia interference campaign, led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller, concluded that there was not enough evidence to charge any Trump official for conspiring with Russia. However, Mueller made clear his report did not absolve Trump of possible obstruction. His 448-page report outlines 10 potential instances of obstruction of justice committed by Trump, including the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation of Russia and the Trump campaign.

Trump has long griped about the Russia investigation and the political damage that came with it, calling it a “witch hunt” orchestrated by Democrats who simply did not want to see him elected president.

“This isn’t just false; it’s reckless. Repeating debunked conspiracy theories about a former president doesn’t make them true, and it drags the country deeper into division,” political analyst and former Biden DOJ official Anthony Coley tells theGrio. “The country would be much better served by a president focused on lowering costs and solving real problems.”

Following last year’s DNI report that sought to implicate him in criminal activity, a spokesperson for President Obama issued a rare statement, calling the claims “outrageous.”

“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,” the statement said. “These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”