‘Obama tried coup’: Trump slams ex-US president; dodges Epstein question

US president Donald Trump on Tuesday accused former president Barack Obama of leading a coup against him in 2016.

While hosting Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the White House, president Trump was asked a question about Jeffrey Epstein, which he brushed aside. Instead, he accused Obama of trying to interfere in the 2016 election.


Trump called the Epstein investigation a “witch hunt” and said the real issue was Obama’s alleged role in a plot to undermine his victory against Hillary Clinton. “The witch hunt you should be talking about is they caught president Obama, absolutely cold,” Trump said, before making a series of claims.


The US president said he wanted the US department of justice to launch a criminal investigation into Obama. He told reporters that Obama, along with Hillary Clinton and others, tried to undermine American democracy.

"We found absolute -- this isn't like 'evidence' or like -- this is proof, irrefutable proof that Obama was seditious, that Obama was trying to lead a coup, and with Hillary Clinton and all these other people, but Obama headed it up. This is the biggest scandal in the history of our country. It really goes on even to the autopen."

Trump added that recently declassified documents would prove his allegations. He claimed the Democrats paid $12 million to former British spy Christopher Steele for a report he called fake.

He also said the report included false claims that media houses refused to print before the election. Trump claimed he had strong documentation, and said intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard told him more documents would be released soon.

Trump linked the alleged conspiracy to the 2020 presidential election, which he again described as “rigged”.

Trump also accused the January 6 committee of destroying evidence that could have revealed wrongdoing.