Donald Trump has never held back when criticizing his political rivals, and his recent tirade against Barack Obama is no different.
Trump renewed his allegations against former President Barack Obama during a Fox News interview on Sunday, October 19, 2025, claiming his predecessor would face consequences for allegedly spying on his 2016 presidential campaign. The remarks represent the latest escalation in Trump’s ongoing accusations that Obama administration officials engaged in illegal surveillance activities designed to undermine his political success.
During the pre-recorded interview with Maria Bartiromo, Trump directly challenged recent comments Obama had made regarding threats to democracy. Trump asserted that Obama was the actual threat, pointing to what he characterized as illegal surveillance of his campaign. “He knew it was illegal, but he started the whole thing. And there were a lot of dishonest people, and I suspect they’ll be caught,” Trump stated, adding that the former president had committed what amounts to treason.
The president’s comments come amid renewed Republican focus on allegations of politically motivated surveillance. Earlier in October, Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley released a document showing that several Republican lawmakers were investigated during a probe into the January 6 Capitol riot. The file, dated September 27, 2023, revealed that Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis and Marsha Blackburn were probed by the FBI, along with Pennsylvania Representative Mike Kelly.
The document was created following former special counsel Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation examining the riot and election interference claims. It details how the FBI conducted its investigation using phone records to track sitting lawmakers through the agency’s cellular analysis survey team. The investigation into the Republicans’ cellular data continued well into President Biden’s administration, according to the file’s date stamp.
Additionally, independent journalist Matt Taibbi testified before Congress on September 30, 2025 about the TSA’s Quiet Skies program, originally designed to identify national security threats following the September 11 attacks. Taibbi’s investigation uncovered that the program had been used to surveil former Democratic congresswoman and current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, along with three unnamed Republican members of Congress. The Trump administration shuttered the program earlier this year after determining it cost taxpayers approximately $200 million annually without preventing a single terrorist incident, according to Gabbard.
Trump characterized Obama as the leader of efforts to interfere with his campaigns, describing the alleged actions as treasonous attempts to steal and obfuscate elections. He told Bartiromo that Obama initiated surveillance knowing it violated the law, and suggested that those involved in what he called dishonest activities would eventually face accountability. The president expressed confidence that evidence of wrongdoing exists and that justice would be served.
Republicans have increasingly emphasized claims that they have been subjected to politically motivated surveillance by Democratic administrations in recent years. Democrats have consistently rejected these allegations as baseless. The controversy has intensified as Trump’s administration has pushed for greater transparency regarding surveillance activities conducted during previous administrations.
The Sunday interview marked another instance of Trump making sweeping accusations against his political opponents without providing detailed evidence to support his claims. His remarks focused primarily on alleged surveillance activities during the 2016 campaign, which Trump has repeatedly characterized as illegal and unconstitutional actions taken by Obama administration officials.
The allegations represent a continuation of Trump’s long-standing grievances regarding the treatment of his 2016 campaign and subsequent presidency. Throughout his time in office and afterward, Trump has maintained that his campaign and administration faced unprecedented scrutiny and investigation based on politically motivated rather than legitimate law enforcement concerns.
The Grassley document’s release has provided Trump and his allies with new material to support their claims of government overreach. The revelation that multiple Republican lawmakers were subjects of FBI investigation during the January 6 probe has reinforced concerns among conservatives about the scope and targeting of federal investigative activities. The use of cellular analysis to track elected officials’ movements has raised particular concerns about privacy and the appropriate limits of law enforcement surveillance powers.
