Obama refutes Trump's ‘treason' claim in rare response to the U.S. president
In a rare move, Obama's office issued a strongly worded rebuttal to Trump's allegations after the president told reporters that his predecessor attempted to overthrow his presidency and that Obama was guilty of 'treason.'
'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,' spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said on behalf of the former president.
'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.'
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President Barack Obama and president-elect Donald Trump arrive for the 58th presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. PhotoScott Applewhite / Getty Images
Trump has attacked Obama in the past. Still, the president, since assuming office in January, has not gone so far as to accuse the former president and his entire administration of committing a crime.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with the president of the Philippines on Tuesday, Trump piggybacked on comments from his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who on Friday threatened to criminally charge Obama and his administration over intelligence suggesting they had conspired against Trump.
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She declassified documents and said the information she was releasing showed a 'treasonous conspiracy,' claims that Democrats say are false and politically motivated.
'It's there, he's guilty. This was treason,' Trump said, without offering proof.
'They tried to steal the election, they tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody's ever imagined, even in other countries.'
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Previous reports directly contradict the Trump administration's allegations and suggest that Russia used a mole and other tools to try and sway the 2016 election in Trump's favour.
A 2020 bipartisan inquest by the Senate intelligence committee found that Russia used Republican political operative Paul Manafort, the WikiLeaks website and others to try to influence the 2016 election to help Trump's campaign, albeit unsuccessfully.
Rodenbush referenced the 2020 report in his defence of the former Democratic president.
'Nothing in the document issued last week [by Gabbard] undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,' he said.
According to Reuters, Trump has frequently labelled the findings a hoax, a tactic he often employs to quash unfavourable narratives about his conduct.
In recent days, the president reposted on Truth Social a fake AI-generated video depicting Obama being handcuffed and arrested in the Oval Office, coupled with a series of clips of former Democratic leaders, including Joe Biden, saying 'no one is above the law.'
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Similarly, after breaking a promise to release unseen documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a roster of the former financier's wealthy clients — the Trump administration said there was no such list, but then blamed the existence of the highly publicized files on Democrats, claiming evidence against Epstein had been compiled by Trump's political foes in an attempt to undermine him in a 'hoax'-style campaign.
In a statement posted on his Truth Social account, Trump wrote, 'Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration?'
'They created the Epstein Files,' he wrote.
Trump, asked in the Oval Office about Epstein, quickly pivoted into an attack on Obama and Hillary Clinton.
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'The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold,' Trump said.
Trump suggested action would be taken against Obama and his former officials, calling the Russia investigation a treasonous act and the former president guilty of 'trying to lead a coup.'
— With files from Reuters
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Vancouver Sun
33 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Trump and EU strike deal for 15 per cent tariffs on most goods, avoiding trade war
The United States and the European Union agreed on Sunday to a trade framework setting a 15 per cent tariff on most goods, staving off — at least for now — far higher imports on both sides that might have sent shockwaves through economies around the globe. The sweeping announcement came after President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen met briefly at Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland. Their private sit-down culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the EU's 27-member countries. 'It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it's going to be great for both parties,' Trump said. The agreement, he said, was 'a good deal for everybody' and 'a giant deal with lots of countries.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Von der Leyen said the deal 'will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.' Many facets will require more work As with other recent tariff agreements that Trump announced with countries including Japan and the United Kingdom, some major details remain pending in this one. Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America — as well as make a major military equipment purchase. He said tariffs 'for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15 per cent' and meant that U.S. exporters 'have the opening up of all of the European countries.' Von der Leyen said the 15 per cent tariffs were 'across the board, all inclusive' and that 'indeed, basically the European market is open.' At a later news conference away from Turnberry, she said that the $750 billion in additional U.S. energy purchases was actually over the next three years — and would help ease the dependence on natural gas from Russia among the bloc's countries. 'When the European Union and the United States work together as partners, the benefits are tangible,' Von der Leyen said, noting that the agreement 'stabilized on a single, 15 per cent tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports,' including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. '15 per cent is a clear ceiling,' she said. But von der Leyen also clarified that such a rate wouldn't apply to everything, saying that both sides agreed on 'zero for zero tariffs on a number of strategic products,' like all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials. It is unclear if alcohol will be included in that list. 'And we will keep working to add more products to this list,' she said, while also stressing that the 'framework means the figures we have just explained to the public, but, of course, details have to be sorted out. And that will happen over the next weeks' Further EU approval needed In the meantime, there will be work to do on other fronts. Von der Leyen had a mandate to negotiate because the European Commission handles trade for member countries. But the Commission should now present the deal to member states and EU lawmakers — who will ultimately decide whether or not to approve it. Before their meeting began, Trump pledged to change what he characterized as 'a very one-sided transaction, very unfair to the United States.' 'I think both sides want to see fairness,' the Republican president told reporters. Von der Leyen said the U.S. and EU combined have the world's largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars and added that Trump was 'known as a tough negotiator and dealmaker.' 'But fair,' Trump said. Trump has spent months threatening most of the world with large tariffs in hopes of shrinking major U.S. trade deficits with many key trading partners. More recently, he had hinted that any deal with the EU would have to 'buy down' a tariff rate of 30 per cent that had been set to take effect. But during his comments before the agreement was announced, the president was asked if he'd be willing to accept tariff rates lower than 15 per cent, and said 'no.' First golf, then trade talk Their meeting came after Trump played golf for the second straight day at Turnberry, this time with a group that included sons Eric and Donald Jr. In addition to negotiating deals, Trump's five-day visit to Scotland is built around golf and promoting properties bearing his name. A small group of demonstrators at the course waved American flags and raised a sign criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who plans his own Turnberry meeting with Trump on Monday. Other voices could be heard cheering and chanting 'Trump! Trump!' as he played nearby. On Tuesday, Trump will be in Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, where his family has another golf course and is opening a third next month. The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new course. The U.S. and EU seemed close to a deal earlier this month, but Trump instead threatened the 30 per cent tariff rate. The deadline for the Trump administration to begin imposing tariffs has shifted in recent weeks but is now firm and coming Friday, the administration insists. 'No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they'll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money and off we go,' U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told 'Fox News Sunday' before the EU deal was announced. He added, however, that even after that 'people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he's always willing to listen.' Without an agreement, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes. If Trump eventually followed through on his threat of tariffs against Europe, meanwhile, it could have made everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the United States. 'I think it's great that we made a deal today, instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all,' Trump said. 'I think it's the biggest deal ever made.' — Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Cincinnati and Samuel Petrequin in London contributed to this report. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Toronto Sun
33 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Goldberg: Stephen Colbert's swan song is zeitgeist moment
Stephen Colbert and Donald Trump are seen in a combination file photo. Photo by Getty Images There's a lot of schadenfreude on the right, and even more lamentation on the left, about the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Donald Trump leads the schadenfreude caucus. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' Trump crowed on social media. 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!' (It is remarkable that a president who campaigned with a vow to end 'cancel culture' is so uninhibited in his celebration of cancel culture when it's on his terms.) The lamentations from the left are just as exuberant, from the other direction. They hail Colbert as a heroic martyr for free expression and speaking truth to power. 'Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repercussions,' MSNBC's Chris Hayes declared. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a sense, both sides essentially agree that Colbert was cancelled because of his politics. The argument from the left is that this was unfair and even illegitimate. The illegitimate claim rests on the fact that CBS's parent company, Paramount, has been trying to curry favour with the administration to gain approval for the sale of the network to Skydance Media. Shari Redstone, Paramount's owner, approved a settlement of Trump's dubious lawsuit against 60 Minutes (which Colbert had criticized days earlier as a 'big fat bribe'). Colbert's scalp was a sweetener, critics claim. I think that theory is plausible, given the timing of the decision and the way it was announced. If this was the plan all along, why not announce the decision at the 2025 upfronts and sell ads in tandem with the wind-down? That's the way this sort of thing has been done in the past. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But Colbert's critics on the right have an equally plausible point. Colbert made the show very political and partisan, indulging his Trump 'resistance' shtick to the point where he basically cut the potential national audience in half. He leaned heavily on conventionally liberal politicians (tellingly, on the night he announced the news of his cancellation, his first guest was California Sen. Adam Schiff — a man who couldn't get a laugh if you hit him in the face with a pie). Recommended video But both the left-wing and right-wing interpretations have some holes. The theory that this was purely a political move overlooks the fact that CBS didn't merely fire Colbert, it's terminating the iconic Late Show entirely and giving the airtime back to local affiliates. If they solely wanted to curry favour with Trump, they could have given the show to more Trump-friendly (funnier and popular with the young'ns) comedians such as Shane Gillis or Andrew Schulz. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The show was reportedly losing some $40 million a year. Even if they hired someone for a quarter of Colbert's $15-million salary, it would still be losing money. On the right, many — Trump included — have pointed to the fact that Greg Gutfeld's not-quite-late-night Fox show has better ratings than his competitors on the three legacy networks. That's true, but it's hardly as if Gutfeld is any less partisan than Colbert, Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon. It's also true that the titans of previous eras — Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien — tended to avoid strident partisanship. But the nostalgia-fuelled idea that a more mainstream, apolitical host would garner similar audiences again gets the causality backward. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Those hosts were products of a different era, when huge numbers of Americans from across the political spectrum consumed the same cultural products. The hosts, much like news networks and newspapers, had a powerful business incentive to play it down the middle and avoid alienating large swaths of their audiences and advertisers. That era is over, forever. Now media platforms look to garner small 'sticky' audiences they can monetize by giving them exactly what they want. There's an audience for Colbert, and for Gutfeld, but what makes the roughly 2 million to 3 million nightly viewers who love that stuff tune in makes the other 330 million potential viewers tune in to something else. The Late Show model — and budget — simply doesn't work with those numbers. Cable news, led by Fox, ushered in political polarization in news consumption, but cable itself fuelled the balkanization of popular culture. Streaming and podcast platforms, led by YouTube, are turbocharging that trend to the point where media consumption is now a la carte (artificial intelligence may soon make it nigh upon bespoke). The late-night model was built around a culture in which there was little else to watch. That culture is never coming back. — Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch. Sports Columnists Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
33 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
ELDER: Why the Democrats are railing against Colbert's cancellation
Stephen Colbert arrives at a screening of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," during PaleyFest, April 21, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Photo by Richard Shotwell / Invision/AP CBS cancelled Stephen Colbert's late-night show. Democrat Minnesota Gov. and failed vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, who recently appeared on the show, said, 'Stephen Colbert is the best in the business. He always told truth to power and pulled no punches. We need more of that, not less.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account You might be forgiven for thinking Colbert's job is to tell jokes. Some Democrats in full meltdown mode call the left-wing show's cancellation a casualty of CBS's attempt to curry favour with the Trump administration. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said, 'If Paramount and CBS ended The Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.' The show's writers demand that New York Attorney General Letitia James launch an investigation. For those who long ago stopped engaging in the nightly pleasure of watching late-night comedy when Johnny Carson retired and who stopped watching altogether post-Jay Leno-David Letterman, here's what just happened. CBS's parent company, Paramount, is seeking Federal Communications Commission approval for a merger. CBS called the cancellation 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night … not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Colbert reportedly lost $40 million last year, despite posting the highest late-night ratings of any show not hosted by Fox's Greg Gutfeld. Forty million dollars in annual losses is a lot of money, whether for Colbert or the WNBA. But in the WNBA's defence, its loss took an entire league. Colbert dropped $40 million all by himself. Since the Carson-Leno-Letterman era, late-night comedy viewership no longer prints money. At one time, Carson's show generated an estimated $50 million to $100 million in annual profits. It consistently rated number one in late night, capturing as much as 70% of that audience. One night in 1969, when performer Tiny Tim got married on the show, nearly 50 million people watched. During Carson's last week in 1992, he averaged 19 million viewers, with his final show watched by 55 million. By contrast, Colbert, in May 2025, averaged 1.9 million viewers per night, with ad revenue since 2018 down 40%. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Younger viewers spend their time on TikTok and YouTube, watching clips and streaming content when and where they want on the various social media platforms. Speaking of younger viewers, this brings us to the real reason behind the Democrats' hyperventilation over Colbert's cancellation. Twenty years ago, Pew Research found some 20% of young viewers get their 'news' from the late-night shows, particularly the monologues that nowadays serve as angry op-eds against conservatives, Republicans and especially Donald Trump. The late-night show monologues routinely disparaged Trump as dumb, racist, sexist, fascist, hateful, lying, warmongering, fat, evil, etc. Humour is a fantastic vehicle to affect views. A 2021 study conducted by the Annenberg School of Communications found 'new research suggests that humour may help keep people informed about politics … when compared to non-humorous news clips, viewers are not only more likely to share humorously presented news, but they are also more likely to remember the content from these segments.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Media Research Center found during the fall 2024 presidential campaign between Trump and Kamala Harrist hat 'hosts of the late-night 'comedy' shows (Comedy Central's The Daily Show, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers) told a total of 1,463 jokes about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris — but 1,428 of them were about Trump and only 35 about Harris. That's a whopping 40:1 ratio or almost 98% to 2%.' As for jokes about vice-presidential candidates Tim Walz and J.D. Vance, MRC found that 'comedians told 302 jokes about the vice-presidential candidates. Of these, 236 were directed at J.D. Vance compared to 66 at Tim Walz. That equates to a 4:1 ratio with 78% aimed at Vance.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As for guests during the fall campaign, MRC found 'the comedians also welcomed 44 liberal celebrities, journalists and political guests compared to zero conservatives. Those included one Colbert interview with Harris, two — one Kimmel and one Daily Show — with Walz and one Kimmel with (Harris' spouse) Doug Emhoff.' Any questions? Heeeere's Timmy! Read More Sports Columnists Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA
