Trump accuses Obama of leaking classified information over alien

Donald Trump on Thursday accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of revealing “classified information” after Obama said in a recent podcast interview that aliens are “real.”

The remarks came as Trump was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked him about Obama’s comments and whether he had seen any evidence of “non-human visitors to Earth”.

“Well, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump replied.

When pressed on whether aliens exist, Trump did not provide a clear answer. “I don’t know if they’re real or not,” he said. “I can tell you he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.” He added that he could potentially intervene, saying, “I may get him out of trouble by declassifying.”

The controversy followed Obama’s appearance last weekend on the “No Lie” podcast hosted by journalist Brian Tyler Cohen. During a rapid-fire segment, Obama was asked about extraterrestrial life and responded, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them.” He also dismissed speculation that aliens were being held at the Nevada military facility widely associated with UFO conspiracy theories.

“There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States,” Obama said, indicating that no such evidence was presented to him while in office.

After his comments drew widespread attention, Obama sought to clarify his remarks in a social media post. He said he had seen no evidence during his presidency that extraterrestrials had made contact with Earth.

“I was trying to stick to the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, let me clarify,” he 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.”

When asked whether Obama had disclosed classified information, the White House referred reporters to Trump’s own comments.

Trump has previously spoken about unidentified flying objects and extraterrestrial life. In a 2019 interview with ABC News, he said he had a “very brief meeting” on the topic but added that he was not particularly convinced by claims of UFO sightings. In another interview that year with commentator Tucker Carlson, he said he was not a believer, though “anything is possible.” In 2020, when asked about Roswell, he declined to elaborate, calling the matter “very interesting.”

The exchange highlights how remarks made in informal media appearances can quickly become political flashpoints, especially when they touch on issues of national security and government secrecy.

With IANS inputs