US President Donald Trump has accused former President Barack Obama of sharing classified information following recent remarks about aliens. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on February 19, Trump said, "He gave classified information, he's not supposed to be doing that," and described Obama’s comments as a “big mistake.”
What Barack Obama said
The controversy began after podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen asked Obama in an interview published February 14 whether aliens are real. Obama responded, "They're real, but I haven't seen them." He added, "They're not being kept in... Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
The remark quickly gained traction online, prompting Obama to clarify his statement on social media. “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, let me clarify," Obama wrote. "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
When asked whether he was confirming the existence of aliens, Trump continued his criticism. "I don't know if they're real or not, I can tell you he gave classified information," Trump said. "He's not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information." He later added, "No, I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it."
Obama’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump orders release of UFO, UAP records
Later the same day, President Trump posted on social media that, "based on the tremendous interest shown," he was directing the Department of Defense and other agencies to release government records on "alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters."
ALSO READ | 'Obama will start a war with Iran': Old Donald Trump tweet resurfaces amid military escalation
Since 2023, Congress has held three hearings on unidentified flying objects, also referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena. In September, four witnesses testified about seeing what they believed were UAPs, and a video was presented that purportedly showed a U.S. military drone interacting with a mysterious object.
However, the Pentagon’s UFO office has reported that it found no "verifiable evidence" of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology. NASA also released a report in September 2023 stating it had not found any evidence suggesting UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin.
